From Reuters: Islamic derivatives are still struggling to gain traction in the Gulf, six months after the launch of a much-touted over-the-counter contract aimed at creating a standard legal framework for hedging products.
Experts said the contract, known as the Tahawwut Master Agreement, in theory provides Islamic institutions with a simpler template for risk management that has been approved by sharia scholars……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The Malaysian sukuk market continues its proactiveness with the latest two domestic issuances going to the market. Malaysian issuers in recent months have issued international currencies in US dollar and Singapore dollar, but the bulk of the business is done in local currency ringgit issuances.
Malaysian entities such as Celcom Axiata Bhd and Padiberas Nasional Berhad (BERNAS), the national rice paddy investment partner, have recently launched two sukuk……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Yields on Malaysia’s sovereign Islamic bonds are trading at the narrowest premium to Treasuries since they were sold, giving investors incentives to buy higher- returning sukuk after Dubai World’s debt restructuring agreement.
Malaysia’s 3.928 per cent dollar-denominated Islamic notes due June 2015 fell 0.1 per cent this month, according to prices from the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. The debt yields 142 basis points more than Treasuries and has averaged 153 basis points over the past three months……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: The government is working to speed up the use of Islamic-based financing tools as it has recently formed a committee to study mechanisms of issuing sukuk, Finance Minister Mohammad Abu Hammour said Saturday.
In a statement to The Jordan Times, the official said the government is serious about using Islamic sukuk to provide funds for carrying out vital and top priority projects……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Royal Bank of Scotland Group expects to manage $7bn to $10bn of Gulf Arab bond sales next quarter, which will be the best three months for debt offerings this year for the region, a bank official said.
The bonds will be sold by governments, state-related companies, financial institutions and companies from “across the region, but dominated by the UAE,” Simon Penney, chief executive officer for the Middle East and Africa at RBS, the UK’s biggest government-owned bank, said in an interview in Dubai……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Since the global financial crisis started to unfold in 2008, there have been several reports suggesting that Islamic banks have been less affected by the crisis because they are not allowed for ethical reasons to invest in the pernicious derivatives such as CDOs (credit default obligations) that precipitated the worst crisis the world has seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Such reports have largely been based on oversimplified assumptions about Islamic finance and in a few instances on an emotional attachment based more on religiosity than on dispassionate non-descriptive empirical analysis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a leading regional Islamic bank, will provide AED 367 million or USD 100 million Istisna’a and forward Ijara facility to National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) to fund the construction of a new SEP 450 self elevating accommodation and crane barge.
This deal is a significant milestone for NPCC as it the first Islamic finance facility in its corporate history. ADIB acted as mandated lead arranger and structured the deal while Waha Capital PJSC advised NPCC……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has won the JP Morgan Quality Recognition Award for Excellence. The award is in recognition to it achieving 99.6% straight-through processing (STP) on payments between banks, which includes money transfers and account settlements between correspondent banks around the world.
“The fact that QIB received the Elite JP Morgan Quality Recognition Award from a global bank proves QIB’s ability to achieve and perpetuate excellence in its financial services around the world,” according to Khalid al-Rumaihi, Senior Executive Manager Head of International Banking and Financial Institutions at QIB……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Amanda Staveley, a financial adviser, has held meetings with several shareholders of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), for a stake in the lender that could exceed 10 percent, a local newspaper said.
Staveley’s firm PCP Capital Partners is holding the meetings, Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Qabas said in an unsourced report on Sunday. The paper, however, did not name the potential buyer……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: UAE Exchange Centre, one of the world’s largest money exchange and remittance service providers, has applied for a banking licence in India.
Sudhir Kumar Shetty, Chief Operating Officer, says: “We have applied for a full banking licence in India in April, following the Indian Union Finance Minister’s announcement that deserving candidates could apply for new banking licences.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Having reached a consensus on debt restructuring with 99 per cent of its creditor banks, Dubai World’s next big challenge lies in dealing with its still more numerous trade creditors.
The ports and property conglomerate’s subsidiary, Nakheel, has by far the most such creditors: more than 1,000 advertising companies, construction contractors and other service providers that supported Dubai’s once booming property market……………………………………….Full Article: Source