From Dow Jones: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, or ADIB, the emirate’s largest Islamic lender by market value, is planning to sell five-year benchmark Islamic bonds, or sukuks, this week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Company officials, who have been on a series of investor meetings in Asia, Europe and the Middle East since Oct. 20, end their roadshow Tuesday. Benchmark-sized bond deals are those worth at least $500 million. The securities are expected to price later this week……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Financeasia.com: Within the realm of Islamic finance, sukuk remains one of the most developed and more successful products that has earned the view by specialists as a vibrant and permanent funding source for borrowers from both the conventional and Islamic disciplines.
As Bank Negara’s governor, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr Zeti Ahktar Aziz said: “the sukuk epitomises the very ingenuity in Islamic finance”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: The global Islamic bond market could see issues of close to $46 billion in 2011 as investor confidence returns and new issuers emerge in the growing Islamic finance industry, BMB Islamic’s chief executive said.
With economies recovering from the financial crisis and the restructuring of state-owned entities like Dubai World gaining momentum, sukuk is once again going to emerge as the preferred way to raise money, Humayon Dar told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai on Monday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Malaysia plans to let issuers sell to individual investors sukuk that can be traded on the local stock exchange as the government seeks to reverse a 24 percent decline in sales in the world’s biggest market for Islamic bonds.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd., the exchange operator, is working with regulators on rules to enable companies to issue Islamic debt that would be affordable to the public, Chief Executive Officer Yusli Yusoff said in an e-mailed reply to questions last week……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: The Islamic Development Bank, a Saudi Arabia-based multilateral lender, may sell at least $500 million of sukuk next year to fund projects in its member countries, Vice President Abdul Aziz Al Hinai said.
The sale will be part of the bank’s plan to meet its funding needs of more than $1 billion annually, Al Hinai said in an interview during an Islamic finance forum in Kuala Lumpur……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabtimesonline.com: Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz” in its recent research on the GCC Fixed Income Market has highlighted the trends in the Kuwaiti bonds and sukuk market during the period from 2003-2009.
During the period covered in the survey, Kuwait’s total new issuances of bonds and sukuk amounted to $99.7 billion, representing 40 percent of the entire GCC issuances during the same period……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: National mortgage company Cagamas Bhd will issue another landmark sukuk, with size estimated to be between RM500 million and RM2 billion.
Chief executive officer Steven Choy said the size of the Islamic debt paper will depend on the home loans that banks sell to Cagamas……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bt.com.bn: Malaysia is well-positioned as a multi-currency issuance platform for sukuk given its access to a wide range of players and investors, backed by significant tax incentives, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said yesterday.
He said there were numerous fund-raising opportunities through the Malaysian International Islamic Finance Centre (MIFC) initiatives where Malaysia offers itself as a hub for fund raising……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Qatar’s bourse may begin trading bonds, sukuk and exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the first quarter of next year, the exchange’s deputy chief executive said on Tuesday.
The Gulf state’s bourse embarked on a revamp last year when it entered a strategic partnership with NYSE Euronext. It is currently 20 percent owned by the Big Board parent……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: A Malaysian Islamic finance industry body and the Maldives Islamic Bank signed a deal on Tuesday to set up Maldives’ first sharia lender.
Maldives Islamic Bank hoped to set up the bank within six months, its managing director Harith Harun said in a statement……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: The Maldives, which is set to open its first Islamic bank in January 2011 with the help of a Malaysian institute, aims for the bank to capture up to a fourth of the banking market there in three to five years.
The small island nation, whose population of about 330,000 is almost fully Muslim, currently has four conventional banks, none of which offer syariah-compliant products, Maldives Islamic Bank chairman Khaled Al-Aboodi said………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Bank Negara Malaysia is likely to issue up to two mega Islamic bank licenses, its Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said Tuesday.
The central bank is expected to announce at least one mega Islamic bank later this year, she told reporters on the sideline of the ongoing Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF) here……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Bank Negara will announce one mega Islamic bank by this year under its plan to issue up to two mega Islamic banking licences. “We will announce one mega Islamic bank,” governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said yesterday on the sidelines of the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2010.
It was previously reported that Malaysia had shortlisted two foreign banks to be licensed as mega Islamic banks with a minimum capital of US$1bil each under the Government’s financial sector liberalisation measures announced last year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Malaysia, the world’s biggest market for Islamic bonds, will issue a license before the end of this year to a new Islamic bank that will be jointly established by institutions from Asia and the Middle East, central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.
The newly formed entity will have a capital of at least $1 billion, Zeti said in an interview late yesterday, without naming the companies or organizations involved. A second so- called “mega Islamic bank” permit may be issued by the central bank next year, she said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: All new Islamic financial products to be offered by Islamic financial institutions or any existing products to be offered to new customers must comply with the rulings of the new Syariah Resolutions in Islamic Finance (Second Edition), said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
However, for Islamic financial products which had been contracted between the customers and Islamic financial institutions based on syariah rulings published in the first edition and the Summary of National Syariah Advisory Council (NSAC) decisions, the contract would remain in force until maturity, BNM said in a statement here Tuesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: CIMB Islamic Bank and Hewlett-Packet (HP) Multimedia Sdn Bhd on Tuesday signed an agreement formalising an Islamic Term Financing Facility agreement.
The agreement is to finance the development and construction of HP’s Next Generation Data Centre (NGDC) in Cyberjaya……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad comments in a speech on the growth of Islamic banking and the need for proper regulation to avoid abuse. He spoke at a Shariah scholars forum in Kuala Lumpur.
On the rising demand for Islamic banking: “Islamic banking has become the focus of discussion all over the world and especially after the current financial crisis brought to their knees the great financial houses of the rich countries. The collapse of conventional banking, finance and the monetary system has exposed their weakness and the ease with which they can be abused……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Backing currency with gold does not make it Islamic, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday. He said it became Islamic only if transaction in the currency did not involve interest or riba.
“It is not the name that is important. It is the gold backing for the currency, whatever may be its name,” he said in a keynote address at the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2010 here……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Maybank Investment Bank Bhd’s affiliate company Saudi-based Anfaal Capital is eyeing the sukuk, corporate finance and advisory, fund management and real estate investment markets in Saudi Arabia to build its business.
Anfaal chairman Khaled M. Al Aboodi said the Saudi market had vast potential being the largest economy in the Gulf Cooperation Council and provided huge opportunities for the company to tap especially in the asset management and investment banking services segments……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Financesarticle.com: Wealth Management is followed by most people interested in growing their wealth in a systematic and disciplined manner. It is an advisory run by banks, mutual funds and other such financial institutions.
The individuals within these institutions who manage the combined finances of a number of investors are wealth managers who invest on behalf of the institution into financial securities. Islamic banking has evolved in a large way since it was started……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From : South Korea is keen to foster further cooperation with Malaysia to beef up its Islamic finance and services sector that is at its infancy stage.
Korea Investment and Securities head of Islamic finance Yul-Hee Lee said there has been many enquiries made by Korean companies on how it can raise funds using the sukuk……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From KUNA: There are tremendous opportunities available for Islamic Finance in Aviation and Shipping Industries, according to a report issued by Kuwait Finance House Research Limited (KFHR) Company, a subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House (KFH), on Tuesday.
The report brought attention to the fact that the financing deals in compliance with the provisions of Islamic Sharia’a contributed to the growth of aviation and shipping sectors in the region. This growth was achieved through huge financing deals concluded over the past few years and introduced benefits to these sectors……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Theedgemalaysia.com: The Islamic finance industry is set to see robust growth with the internationalisation of the market as interest picks up beyond the borders of Muslim-majority countries.
According to a report by KFH Research, released in conjunction with the second Global Islamic Finance Forum here yesterday, Islamic assets have expanded at a compound average growth rate of 14.1% from US$150 billion (RM463.5 billion) in the mid-1990s to around US$1 trillion last year, mainly due to abundant liquidity and greater awareness of syariah-compliant products……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) has launched its Islamic financial institution (IFI) governance rating, an interactive rating service catering to IFIs.
Its chief executive officer, Mohd Razlan Mohamed, said the service was designed to facilitate the IFIs’ institutional capacity building for improved governance and the discharge of accountability to stakeholders……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya Dow Jones: he U.A.E. government is still exploring the possibility of a merger and balance sheet restructuring for Islamic mortgage financier Amlak Finance, the company said Tuesday, after its planned merger with another Dubai company was almost scuppered last month.
“The Governmental Committee for Amlak’s affairs continues to explore the possibilities of a merger and balance sheet restructuring of the company,” Amlak said in its financial statements for the third quarter of 2010……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Bank of London and The Middle East plc (BLME) has unveiled BLMEFX, a Shari’ah-compliant web-based FX trading platform to provide clients with direct access to multiple currencies for overseas transactions
In a Shari’ah-compliant environment currency trading is used to support cross-border transactions rather than to realise a profit. Under Shari’ah all currency transactions must be backed by a commodity, which has historically made currency trading, as well as related transactions, complex and expensive……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Well-known Saudi businessman Sheikh Saleh Kamel was last night named as the first winner of The Royal Award for Islamic Finance launched in June by the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Center (MIFC) and the Securities Commission Malaysia which honors “outstanding contribution of an exceptional individual in Islamic finance.”
The award was presented in a ceremony Kuala Lumpur in the presence of Sultan of Kedah Tuanku Alhaj Abdul Halim, and his consort Tuanku Sultanah Hajjah Haminah, Raja Nazrin Shah, the crown prince of the state of Perak and ambassador at large of the MIFC Initiative, Tun Musa Hitam, former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, governor of Bank Negara Malaysia and Zarinah Anwar, chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia……………………………………….Full Article: Source