From Gulfnews.com: Global Islamic bond (sukuk) issuance hit Dh144 billion ($39 billion) in the first ten months of the year with total issuance in October alone surpassing $5.3 billion, according to the latest data from Zawya’s sukuk database.
“Data from Zawya Sukuk Monitor shows that sukuk in the GCC is back on track and the rest of the world is warming up to the benefits of Islamic bonds,” said Adnan Halawi, Senior Sukuk Analyst, Zawya. “October was marked by diversity of issuing countries with major issues from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: In November, the UAE witnessed $750 million sukuk by one of the country’s largest Islamic financial institutions. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, or ADIB, issued $750 million sukuk - part of its $5 billion sukuk programme. This benchmark sukuk will be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
“Data from Zawya Sukuk Monitor shows that sukuk in the GCC is back on track and the rest of the world is warming up to the benefits of Islamic bonds,” said Adnan Halawi, Senior Sukuk Analyst, Zawya. “October was marked by diversity of issuing countries with major issues from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Kippreport.com: Yemen will delay issuing its first Islamic bonds until the first quarter of next year to give it more time to iron out technical aspects of the sale, deputy finance minister Jalal Yaqoub said. Yaqoub also said that security fears this year had dampened investor appetite for Yemeni assets.
The bond issue — intended to raise up to $300 million — has already been postponed once, to the end of this year from the third quarter. Yaqoub said the sale would be held up while Yemen worked out which collateral would underpin the sale……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: HSBC Holdings Plc, the largest bank in Europe, plans to offer Shariah-compliant services in India and China to tap economic growth after the countries issue regulations to develop their Islamic financial markets.
HSBC Amanah also plans to expand in Egypt and Oman, said Razi Fakih, the deputy chief executive officer of the bank’s Islamic unit. The lender, which has operations in 10 nations including Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, is seeking to increase bank branches globally to about 125 over the next two years from 100 at the end of 2010, he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Dailystar.com.lb: HSBC Amanah, the Islamic arm of bank HSBC, plans to open 125 branches throughout the Middle East and Asia by the end of 2012 eyeing rapid growth in the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry, a top executive said.
Middle East and Asian markets will fuel growth in the industry with compounded annual growth rates of over 6 percent in the next five years, said Razi Fakih, HSBC Amanah’s deputy chief executive in an interview with Reuters Wednesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The global financial crisis has put an end to the heydays of growth in the banking sector and the current market outlook suggests that these days are not returning quickly. Islamic banks, which traditionally grew faster than their conventional peers, are also affected. With the room for further organic growth being limited, mergers and acquisitions should be considered as an avenue for sustained growth, says A.T. Kearney, one of the world’s leading management consulting firms in the financial industry.
The global financial crisis highlighted the need for consolidation in the Islamic banking industry in the region. Growing out of their niche and becoming mainstream business is considered one of their major challenges and if Islamic banks do not succeed, the room for further organic growth is limited as the market space in some GCC countries is already overcrowded, according to A.T. Kearney……………………………………….Full Press Release: Source

From Reuters: Bankers in Islamic finance are increasingly outsourcing sharia supervision due to a lack of scholars in the industry, but critics say this is making the sector even less transparent and slowing its development.
The $1 trillion industry rode a five-year oil boom until the 2008 property crash in the Gulf Arab region raised complaints that many of its investment instruments can be seen as mere copy-cats of conventional banking products, threatening the sector’s future growth……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: When Malaysian Aida Othman signed up for the new law programme at the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur, she did not expect to become one the few women with their hands on the levers of the world’s $1 trillion Islamic finance sector.
Rising global demand for scholars who can advise firms on compliance with Islamic legal principles called sharia is behind the quiet and almost accidental way in which women are growing into a small but powerful force in a male-dominated business……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Atimes.com: Over the past decade or so, Malaysia has quietly become the leading international player in Islamic finance and its gateway. The government of Malaysia, through its two principal agencies, Bank Negara (the central bank) and the Security Commission, has actively promoted Islamic finance.
More specifically, Islamic finance has been given formal prominence in the Financial Sector Master Plan (FSMP) and the Capital Market Master Plan (CMP), which were initiated in Malaysia in 2001……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Businessspectator.com.au: Senator Cory Bernardi’s party room rant that Islamic, or Sharia, finance is “wholly incompatible with Western values” shouldn’t just be embarrassing for the Liberal Party, already battling with enough sitting members with hazy knowledge of finance, but is embarrassing for the nation as a whole and, particularly, its financial services industry.
In and amongst the context of the Singapore Exchange’s proposed takeover for the ASX, falling productivity compared to other OECD nations and an economy becoming more and more dependent on primary industry, it’s no wonder that Sydney and Melbourne are falling behind on global finance centre rankings and international students are changing their study destinations……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Tamweel’s re-entry into the home financing market this week is not expected to give a huge boost to Dubai’s flagging property sector, despite terms observers say are competitive with those offered by banks.
The Islamic home finance company based in Dubai restarted its Islamic mortgage business on Monday after a two-year freeze, offering to finance up to 80 per cent of the purchase price of completed properties……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Themanufacturer.com: A brand new, UK-built, ultra-fine milling technology launched in Gateshead on October 21 was financed with a sukuk financial instrument – a type of Islamic bond – which is the first of its kind in the UK.
North east company International Innovative Technologies (IIT) says it is the first in the UK to use the facility which is similar to a convertible bond and respects Islamic Sharia law and its investment principles, which prohibits the charging or paying of interest……………………………………….Full Article: Source