From Gulf-daily-news.com: The Gulf-based Islamic bond market is poised for a revival as large corporate and supra-national issues come to market but it may be a fragile recovery with skittish investors fearful of any more bad news, market experts said.
Until last month, Islamic bonds, or sukuk, in the region were at a virtual standstill, with Saudi Arabia’s Dar Al Arkan holding the only international sukuk issue. But as the holy month of Ramadan came to a close, a flurry of activity resumed……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Dow Jones: Indonesia raised IDR2 trillion ($224 million) from a private placement of non-tradable Islamic debt, or sukuk, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry sold the four-year sukuk at a yield of 7.13% to the Haj Fund, managed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya Dow Jones: Qatar Telecom or Qtel, the Gulf Arab state’s incumbent telecom, is likely to raise $1.5 billion from a dual-tranche bond issue, a banker familiar with the deal said Wednesday. Qatar Islamic Bank, Qatar’s largest Shariah-compliant lender, last week placed a $750 million, five-year Islamic bond, with investor demand reaching nearly $6 billion.
Final price guidance has been set at 235 basis points over five-year treasuries for the $500 million, six-year tranche and at 245 basis points over 10-year treasuries for the $1 billion, 10-year tranche, the banker told Zawya Dow Jones……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: State-controlled Qatar Telecommunications Company (Qtel) on Thursday said its $1.5 billion bond sale was more than ten times oversubscribed, as bids exceeded $15 billion.
The company this week launched a $500 million six-year bond and a $1 billion 10-year bond priced at 3.375 per cent and 4.75 per cent respectively……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Herbert Smith has advised Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) on its first dollar denominated sukuk issuance and the first sukuk to be issued in Qatar in 2010.
The US$750 million deal from the Gulf state’s largest Shariah-compliant lender was sold to investors in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The sukuk priced at par and carried a coupon of 3.856% - corresponding to a spread of 237.5bp over midswaps……………………………………….Full Press Release: Source

From Businessweek.com: Investing according to Sharia, the Islamic law that covers topics ranging from crime to economics to hygiene, is like dealing with any client who has rules: You follow them. However, the rules are strict, and they differ all over the world.
In the 1990s the performance of our Sharia funds tended to be in the middle of the pack because the U.S. was shifting from industrial to financial businesses and we can’t own financial stocks. Because of that, though, we’ve done better over the past decade……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From AhlulBayt News Agency: “Although avenues for training and development of professionals have increased over the past few years, the growth of business and attendant growth in demand has resulted in the persistence of demand-supply gap,” said Prasanna Seshachellam of Dubai Financial Services Authority.
Presenting a paper titled “An Effective Framework for Sustainable Growth of Islamic Finance in India” at the ongoing international seminar on Islamic finance here Tuesday, he said it would be one of the crucial issues India needed to address when the country adopts the Shariah-compliant banking……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Ezinearticles.com: Islamic banking has been prospering in the last few years. The main target market of these banks is basically the Muslims in Islamic countries as well as Muslims in the Non-Islamic countries.
Many banks in Muslim and non-Muslim countries follow Islamic banking, this banking sector has experienced a boom in the late years of 20th century and even many Non-Muslims have availed the services of Islamic banks……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The Islamic banking model will come under focus at an upcoming gathering of industry leaders and practitioners in Abu Dhabi.
The International Islamic Finance Forum Abu Dhabi, featuring a series of plenary sessions towards a values-led approach to Islamic banking, will take place on October 12 at the Le Royal Meridien Hotel……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Saudi Arabia’s commercial activity slowed down slightly and key banking indicators showed a weak performance in August, following the celebration of Ramadan, said the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama).
Sama’s data revealed that growth in bank lending to the private sector was the lowest in five months, total broad money supply dipped from July levels, and bank deposits fell almost 2 per cent……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Coastweek.com: The first Islamic insurance company in East Africa was launched in Kenya on Wednesday to offer services targeting members of the Muslim community.
The Gulf African Insurance Company, the indemnity group said it will operate along the Takaful concept of “cooperative insurance” and “mutual guarantee” that are advocated for in Shari’ah banking principles of shared responsibilities……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Internationallawoffice.com: Historically, Bermuda has been at the forefront of the growth and success of the global, conventional insurance and reinsurance market. However, interest has been sparked in the relatively new and growing market of Shari’ah-compliant takaful and retakaful, the insurance and reinsurance of the Islamic world.
The immense wealth held in the Middle East and North African region bodes well for global growth in takaful and retakaful businesses, as well as pointing to a growing need for Bermuda service providers to support such opportunities……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Insurancejournal.com: International insurers seeking a bigger share of the potentially lucrative Gulf market need to adapt quickly to regulatory changes and tap into growth areas like Islamic finance or risk being muscled out of consolidation.
With a penetration rate of around one percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the overall Middle Eastern insurance sector lags mature markets but its enormous growth potential has already attracted global heavyweights such as AXA and Allianz……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Oil and gas, tourism and international Islamic finance have been identified as the three main sectors to drive Labuan’s economy, says Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.
He said the three sectors are among the sectors given focus under the National Key Result Areas (NKRA)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: Call it coincidence, but ever since the sequel to iconic ’80s flick Wall Street was released in the Middle East, corporate activity around these parts has sky rocketed. The Gordon Gecko effect, you could say, is in full swing.
In the space of two weeks we’ve seen the United Arab Emirates’ biggest mobile-phone operator, Emirates Telecommunications Corp., or Etisalat, table an $11.7 billion bid for 46% of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co., or Zain……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: The Arab economies have recovered from the effects of the global crisis, according to a recent report. This trend is set to continue also in the next year, depending on the world’s stabilizing economy.
A rebound in oil prices has led to a strong recovery this year in the economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. GDP growth for MENA is projected to hit 4.1 percent in 2010, compared to 2.0 percent in 2009, the IMF said in its October World Economic Outlook.It also predicted an economic growth of 5.1 percent in 2011……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: You could call it the battle of Islamic search engines. First, there was Imhalal.com, now there’s Taqwa.me, the “conscience engine” eyeing a Muslim audience and all those looking for a safe browsing experience on the Web.
Imhalal completed a year of existence last month. Taqwa has been online for just four months and was officially launched two months ago……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: Chancellor Angela Merkel said Muslims must obey the constitution and not sharia law if they want to live in Germany, which is debating the integration of its 4 million-strong Muslim population.
In the furore following a German central banker’s blunt comments about Muslims failing to integrate, moderate leaders including President Christian Wulff have urged Germans to accept that “Islam also belongs in Germany”……………………………………….Full Article: Source