From Telegraph: As Russia’s 20 million Muslims observe Ramadan, the country’s banks are beginning to wake up to the growing opportunities offered by Islamic banking.
“Sharia banking stands a good chance in Russia, since Islamic business is slowly but surely developing here,” Linar Yakupov, who heads Russia’s Islamic Business and Finance Development Fund, said in an interview with the Moscow News……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Malaysia’a takaful industry is expected to step up its performance now that an additional four operators have been issued licences to start business next year, said industry players. Takaful operators were caught unaware last week when Bank Negara Malaysia announced four new licences instead of two.
“With 12 operators in the country now, we have to work harder to gain market share and profits,” said an executive from a takaful group that has been in operation for more than 10 years……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Malaysia, the world’s largest market for sukuk, plans to improve its legal system to become an alternative location to the U.K. for resolving international Islamic finance disputes.
The goal is to position Malaysian “laws as the law of choice for Islamic finance transactions globally,” the central bank said in a statement Aug. 30. Disputes about Shariah principles are a risk to the market for sukuk, bonds complying with Islam’s ban on payment of interest, it said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Islamic bonds have rallied in the UAE in recent weeks, spurred on by low yields of corporate and treasury bonds around the world and returning demand from global investors for Sharia-compliant finance.
Analysts said investors were looking to high-yield alternatives to corporate bonds in the US and Europe, where markets have sunk on traders fears over deflation and a possible double-dip recession………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Interest in Islamic finance is on the rise in Turkey, bolstering its ties to the Middle East and paving the way for a new growth market for Islamic bonds.
Islamic bonds, or sukuk, are known as participation certificates in Turkey. The four Islamic banks - AlBaraka Turk, Asya Katilim, Kuveyt Turk and Turkiye Finans - are called participation banks in Turkey, which is careful to preserve its secular stance on politics and finance……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Dailyexpress.com.my: Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd and Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd (Saadiq) have acted as joint principal advisers, lead arrangers and lead managers for Padiberas Nasional Bhd’s (Bernas) sukuk.
In a joint statement here Tuesday, they said the sukuk involved the issuance of RM750 million Islamic Islamic commercial papers/medium-term notes (ICP/MTN) programme……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Malaysia’s Bank Muamalat reports pre tax profit of MYR 44.8 million ($14.3 million) for the three months to end June. Net profit of the bank rose by 107 per cent to MYR 33.4 million ($10.7 million).
The enhanced performance was attributed to increased contribution from operating income and improved asset quality where allowances for impairment in financing narrowed considerably in the three months to June 2010. Net provisions made in the first quarter eased to MYR 18.9 million ($6.06 million), some 64 per cent lower from a year ago……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Ethiopian-news.com: Finally responding to a strong public demand, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is about to approve a directive that paves the way for the establishment of Islamic banks.
The directive also opens doors for currently operational commercial banks to create an interest-free banking wing. “Existing banks may create interest-free banking windows and Ethiopian nationals may establish a bank exclusively engaged in interest-free banking,” the NBE draft directive reads……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The United Arab Emirates’ central bank has frozen four Iranian bank accounts cited in a United Nations Security Council blacklist after uncovering their presence in the UAE banking system, a paper said on Tuesday.
A UN resolution of June 9 names 40 entities and one individual on a blacklist of firms whose assets worldwide are to be frozen for assisting Iran’s nuclear or missile programmes……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Noor Takaful, the Islamic Insurance provider and subsidiary of Noor Investment Group LLC, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Cares, the UAE-based philanthropic establishment launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2007, in support of the charitable organization’s efforts in providing children in developing countries with access to quality primary education.
Under the terms of the agreement, Noor Takaful will offer donations to Dubai Cares from selected Takaful products that it sells to its customers as a percentage of the takaful contributions (premium) it receives……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Mis-asia.com: A new partnership between mobile communications provider DiGi Telecommunications (DiGi) and insurance firm Etiqa Takaful will provide DiGi customers with Takaful (Islamic insurance) products via mobile devices with SMS activation.
DiGi chief executive officer, Henrik Clausen, said the partnership has launched the Takaful Personal Accident Plan—Takaful PA Plan—which gives all DiGi postpaid and prepaid subscribers an Islamic insurance option with the choice of either the US$16,000 (RM50,000) or US$32,000 (RM100,000) coverage for a nominal 96 US cents (RM3) or US$1.92 (RM6) per month, respectively……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Kiplinger.com: Bellingham, Wash., a picturesque seaside community near the Canadian border, is about the last place you’d expect to find a multibillion-dollar mutual fund company. Even more surprising is that the firm, Saturna Capital, runs two stock funds that have produced terrific results despite — or perhaps because of — a requirement that they adhere to sharia, or Islamic law.
Nicholas Kaiser, Saturna’s chairman, launched Amana Income in 1986 after he was approached by a group of Muslim businessmen while he was with another firm. Kaiser, an Episcopalian, got the gig even though he knew nothing about Islamic principles……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Emirates247.com: Strong oil prices will ally with a sustained rise in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to boost Qatar’s economy by nearly 14 per cent in 2010, one of the highest growth rates in the world, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) has said.
The Gulf country, a tiny oil producer but the world’s top LNG exporter, basked in a mammoth budget surplus of nearly QR43.5 billion in its 2009-2010 fiscal year ended March 31 thanks to high LNG exports, the Abu Dhabi-based AMF said in its quarterly economic and market bulletin for its 21 Arab member nations……………………………………….Full Article: Source