From Timeslive.co.za: Consultancy firm Grant Thornton says South African Islamic investors and financiers are likely to be recognised by way of a new insertion in the Income Tax Act. The proposed new section of the act would take into account Sharia practices which involve profit and risk sharing and forbade the paying or receiving of interest or investment in certain industries.
“The proposed new section of the act brings three types of Islamic financing transactions into the tax net - the investment account agreement called Mudarabah, the financing transaction known as Murabaha and joint ownership financing which is termed Diminishing Musharaka, all removing interest from the equation,” Tasneem Gangat, a tax consultant at Grant Thornton, said in a statement……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: The International Islamic Financial Market, founded by the central banks of Bahrain, Indonesia and Malaysia, plans to create Shariah-compliant repurchase agreements to help Islamic banks manage funds and boost trading.
The IIFM, a Bahrain-based standards-setting body for Islamic markets, wants to introduce repos that don’t violate the religion’s ban on interest. It has proposed allowing third parties to act as intermediaries between buyers and sellers of sukuk used as collateral for short-term funds……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Bahrain Financial Harbour Holding Company, whose owners, Emar Bahrain, agreed to purchase Gulf Finance House’s (GFH) 49.88 per cent investment in BFHHC in June 2010, announced that it has fully repaid a $134 million Sukuk facility arranged by Liquidity Management Centre (LMC) which was used to finance the construction of the Financial Centre within Bahrain Financial Harbour.
GFH advised upon the structure of the Sukuk and raised funds for the facility as part of its remit as financial advisor to Bahrain Financial Harbour, as well as being the originator and driving force behind the project……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Emiratesfn.com: Norton Rose LLp, the international legal practice, has acted for International Innovative Technologies Limited (IIT) in the UK’s first ever Sukuk.
Dubai based Millennium private Equity Limited are the ultimate financiers in the transaction, which has raised financing using the musharaka (joint venture) Sukuk structure for the technology development company based in the North East of England……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Efinancialnews.com: Islamic bonds have expanded their geographic footprint after a British manufacturer became the first company to raise money through a sukuk in the UK, which has until now, largely been the domain of the Middle Eastern and Asian countries.
International Innovative Technologies, a maker of industrial mills, raised $10m through a private equity sukuk to help finance its growth plans……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 630%.
Subscriptions worth BD63m were received for the BD10m issue, which carries a maturity of 182 days……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Alarabiya.net: As part of a plan to fight the uncontrolled influx of religious edicts, the Algerian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs launched an online fatwa bank that covers the most common issues that preoccupies Muslims.
The recent prevalence of T.V. shows that issue fatwas to callers inquiring about a variety of issues, also called ’satellite fatwas,’ raised concerns in the Algerian government about unqualified clerics who issue controversial edicts that often confuse Muslims and at times might incite sedition……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Kuwait-based NBK Group said it Egyptian subsidiary, Al Watany Bank of Egypt (AWB) has registered EGP 230.6 million ($40.5 million) net profit for the first half, up eight per cent compared to the same period last year.
AWB had posted a net profit of EGP213.8 million during the first half last year. The bank’s total assets stood at EGP15.7 billion compared to EGP 14.8 billion in the first half of the previous year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Commercialbank of Qatar, the largest private sector bank in Qatar, has signed a strategic partnership with the London Metropolitan Business School (LMBS). The partnership sets down the roots of a new Doha-based Training Academy which will provide invaluable training and development opportunities to employees of the Bank.
This strategic partnership will cater for employees at all stages of their career path leading the way in developing talent who will play an active role in the Bank and the future of Qatar……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: Tourism Development & Investment Co, a state-owned developer of hotels in Abu Dhabi, signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to provide home financing on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island.
The mortgages, which will comply with Islamic banking rules, will offer financing of as much as 85 percent and profit rates starting at 6 percent, TDIC said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday. The offer, effective immediately, will be in addition to existing finance agreements, TDIC said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Further reinforcing its position as the leading distributor of Takaful products in the UAE, Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced that it has been named the “Best Takaful Distributor in the UAE” for the second quarter of 2010.
The award was recently presented to the bank by Germany’s FWU AG, a global leader in Takaful product development, in recognition of the exceptional performance of the Al Islami Takaful Savings Programme……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd president and chief executive officer Datuk Syed Moheeb Syed Kamarulzaman has dismissed market talk that Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) takaful unit Etiqa Takaful Bhd was planning to acquire the company as a rumour.
He told StarBiz there had been no discussion on the matter at shareholder, parent or company level……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Malaysia is attracting Islamic investment funds from the US seeking higher returns in Asia as growth in developed economies slows.
“Emerging markets is where we see global growth going for the next couple of decades and the source for a lot better opportunities,” Bryce Fegley, chief investment officer at Saturna Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian unit of Saturna Capital LLC, the biggest syariah-compliant stock fund in the US, said in an interview on August 10. Saturna’s expertise in Islamic finance “steered us to Kuala Lumpur as opposed to Singapore, Hong Kong or other emerging markets,” he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Dailytimes.com.pk: NBP Fullerton Asset Management Limited (NAFA), formerly National Fullerton Asset Management Limited, has launched two open-end funds namely NAFA Riba Free Savings Fund (NRFSF) and NAFA Asset Allocation Fund (NAAF).
NRFSF is a Shariah Compliant Income scheme with the objective of providing preservation of capital and earning a reasonable rate of return along with a high degree of liquidity……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Path Solutions, a recognized specialist in the provision of software solutions to the Islamic finance industry, announced that it has signed on July 1st an agreement to acquire INC Technologies Egypt, a Cairo-based firm specialized in the development of investment software for SMEs based on N-Tier architecture and .Net platform.
Founded in 2008, INC Egypt is a subsidiary of INC Kuwait, a large system integrator specialized in ERP implementations in addition to representing other software companies in the region……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Acquisition activity in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region remains depressed despite the fact that some sizable transactions have been concluded in 2010, according to Fitch Ratings.
In a report on Monday, Fitch said the prospects for sustained economic growth would remain too uncertain for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Middle East and Africa (MEA) corporates to consider significant acquisitive product and market diversification……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Washingtontimes.com: Why is the U.S. government promoting the Brotherhood’s effort to penetrate our capital markets via “Shariah-compliant finance,” including its direct ownership of a huge player in that field, AIG?
Which other Shariah-adherent Muslims are getting their expenses paid by the State Department as they network around the globe on behalf of their seditious agenda? How much is this outrageous program costing, and what does Foggy Bottom have to show for it? ………………………………………Full Article: Source