From Bloomberg: Leading Islamic finance scholars are preparing the first global certification for Shariah experts, seeking to bolster the industry’s reputation and make it easier for banks to find qualified advisers.
The International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance in Kuala Lumpur will pick a board of regulators by year- end to issue permits for scholars qualified to sit on Shariah boards, said Aznan Hasan, the president of the oversight committee……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Nytimes.com: Emirates of Dubai is waiving payments on personal loans for the holy month of Ramadan. Maybank Islamic in Kuala Lumpur started automating charitable donations. Jakarta-based Bank Syariah Mandiri sponsors a television slot teaching Islamic banking, Bloomberg News reported.
Marketing campaigns aimed at reminding the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims to follow the teachings of Prophet Muhammad that supposedly ban receiving interest have increased as the global economy recovers this year, according to the Pan Arab Research Center in Dubai……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: The paper Islamic Banking: How Has it Diffused? does not, as has been widely reported elsewhere, represent the views of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) itself but solely those of the authors, Patrick Imam and Kangni Kpodar.
They note that the 9/11 attack on the US ‘had a positive impact on assets of Islamic banks, perhaps because Muslim investors, who traditionally invested in the West, were compelled to keep more money at home for fear of expropriation, for instance’……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya Dow Jones: Bahrain’s Al Baraka Banking Group, which is mainly owned by Saudi investor Saleh Kamel, Tuesday said it may issue sukuk worth $200 million before the end of this year.
The Islamic investment bank said in a statement posted on the Bahrain bourse’s website that it had plans to issue the sukuk earlier but the move was delayed due to the market slump……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Balkans.com: Istanbul based Kuveyt Turk , which is owned by Kuwait Finance House KSC, could sell more than $100 million in five year sukuk securities, after a similar sized sale in August that was the first in Turkey since Islamic bonds were allowed on the market.
Sukuk bonds are Islamic certificates that have been introduced since fixed income, interest bearing bonds are not allowed in Islam as one is not supposed to receive income from money itself. In Islam money is considered a measure of value, but not an asset in of itself……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Mg.co.za: When the global financial system was in meltdown last year, the resilience of Islamic banks began to attract attention. Why were these banks able to weather the storm? The suggestion that a banking system is more stable without interest-bearing assets is a tantalising one.
“Islamic banking is based upon what has been called a ‘real economy’,” says Amman Muhammad, managing director of Absa Islamic Banking. “There are no notional transactions — everything is asset-based. Remember that, according to Islam, money is not a commodity in itself, but a means of trade.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Misys, a market leader in providing integrated, comprehensive solutions that deliver significant results to organisations in the banking and financial industry, has announced that it has recently appointed Mohammad Harb as Head of Islamic Banking Business Development.
Harb will be responsible for promoting Misys’ state-of-the-art Islamic banking solutions to existing and potential clients in the Middle East and Africa……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Todayszaman.com: A recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report has argued that the rapidly growing Islamic banking sector may accelerate economic development of the Muslim world.
In their working paper “Islamic Banking: How Has it Diffused?” IMF researchers Patrick Imam and Kangni Kpodar note that Islamic banking with its finance potential can solve the problem of slow growth in the world’s Muslim nations……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: The Islamic banking division of Al khaliji commercial bank, al khaliji al islami, has introduced ‘iMAL’ enterprise Islamic banking and investment solutions.
‘iMAL’, which has been developed in association with Islamic banking solutions provider Path Solutions, is robust, proven AAOIFI-certified (Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions) Islamic Core Banking Solution and has won the approval of many Shariah boards……………………………………….Full Article: Source

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has been named, for the third consecutive time, one of the world’s safest banks in 2010 by the leading US-based Global Finance. This was announced in a press release on Tuesday. NBK, which has been ranked 38 in the list, is the first and only Middle East and Arab bank to be enlisted among the safest world’s safest banks.
NBK has maintained its last year’s position, surpassing major international banks such as Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, Societe General and Wells Fargo……………………………………….Full Press Release: Source

From Theborneopost.com: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Malaysia Airports Capital Bhd, successfully completed its inaugural first tranche issuance of 10-year RM1 billion Islamic Medium Term Notes (MTN).
The programme was completed at a yield of 4.55 per cent pursuant to its Islamic Commercial Paper (CP) programme and Islamic MTN programme with a combined aggregate nominal value of up to RM3.1 billion……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) dropped by 15 percent to $18.5 billion in the Middle East and North Africa region in first six months of 2010 against the same period last year, according to a new report.
However, M&A activities recorded deals worth $12 billion in the second quarter alone, an 85 percent increase over the previous quarter, said the report released by professional services firm Ernst & Young on Tuesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From AP: Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that an investigation by the state attorney general into the finances of a $100 million Islamic community centre and mosque planned near the World Trade Center site would set “a terrible precedent.”
“You don’t want them investigating donations to religious organizations, and there’s no reason for the government to do so,” Bloomberg said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: Skeptics and cynics alike have said that the quest for the moderate Muslim in the 21st century is akin to the search for the Holy Grail. It’s not hard to understand why. Terrorist attacks, suicide bombings and the jihadist call for Muslims “to rise up against the oppression of the West” are widespread.
The radical fringe carrying out such actions has sought to dominate the discourse between Islam and the West. In order to do so, they’ve set out to foment anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. They’ve also advocated indiscriminate violence as a political strategy. To cap their victory, this abysmal lot uses the cataclysm of 9/11 as a lesson for the so-called enemies of Islam……………………………………….Full Article: Source