From Australianconservative.com: The political correctness (PC) police must be reeling. After months of personal attacks on me for daring to state my security concerns about the burqa, one of the left’s political pin-ups, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has stated that banning the burqa has merit.
Now Ms Clinton and I probably don’t agree on that much but somehow I feel that the journalists and taxpayer-funded radio commentators won’t be launching the same salvo against her as they did me……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Egypt is aiming to complete a draft of its first regulations governing sukuk, or Islamic bonds, by the end of this year, and to apply the rules in the first quarter of 2011, its financial regulator said on Monday.
Egypt’s large, mostly Muslim population is a draw for Gulf Arab banks looking to expand in the region. But its Islamic finance industry is still in its infancy and the sukuk market has lagged those of Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: The total assets of the Islamic finance sector in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which exceed $600 billion, have prompted the calls for regulating the Islamic finance industry and for imparting more training and skills to professionals working in this area, according to the findings of a major survey conducted by Deloitte’s Islamic Finance Knowledge Centre, or IFKC.
The survey, entitled “The Deloitte Islamic Finance Leaders’ Survey in the Middle East: Benchmarking Practices,” provides wealth of statistical findings as well as analysis of the themes……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Persian Gulf issuers are choosing to sell non-Islamic bonds instead of sukuk in the borrowing rush that has followed Dubai World’s debt restructuring.
Non-Islamic bond sales from the region may almost double to $15 billion this quarter as companies from Qatar National Bank SAQ, the country’s largest bank, to Oman-based MB Petroleum Services LLC tap the market, investment bank Exotix Ltd. in Dubai estimates……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: Deloitte & Touche is targeting the Islamic finance sector for future growth as it provides a significant opportunity, the company’s Middle East chairman and CEO said.
Globally Islamic financial institutions hold $960bn in assets, of which 60 percent are concentrated in the GCC, Omar Fahoum said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Lebanon, where Muslims make up more than half the population, is considering legislation to boost Islamic finance after the industry failed to garner 1 percent of total banking assets.
The central bank is working with a group of local lenders to amend a 2004 law that allowed the establishment of Shariah- compliant banks, First Vice-GovernorRaed Charafeddine said………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Persfin.co.za: Islamic finance is quickly breaking out of its niche in the financial world and becoming a respected part of the mainstream. Personal Finance explains how interest-free banking works, the ethical principles behind it, and what is on offer in South Africa.
Those of us brought up in the Western way of doing business may find it difficult to understand how sharia-compliant banking – banking according to Islamic law, which forbids the paying or receiving of interest, among other things – could possibly work. How can one do banking without the use of interest?………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Persfin.co.za: Until the late 20th century there was no institutionalised Islamic banking, but two pioneering social projects in interest-free finance in the 1960s – in Egypt and Malaysia – paved the way.
In Egypt, the Mit Ghamr savings project was aimed at providing people with a simple savings vehicle and interest-free loans. It enjoyed unexpected success but was abandoned due to political factors……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Commercial Bank of Dubai will post an increase in full-year net profit, as the lender focuses on family-owned businesses in the UAE and growing its Islamic finance business, the firm’s chief executive said on Monday.
“Full-year profit will probably a bit better than last year,” Peter Baltussen told Reuters on the sidelines of a business conference……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: The first day of the Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF) was a Davos atmosphere, culminating in signing of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM) of eleven central banks and two supra-national organisations, and the bestowing of the Royal Award for Islamic Finance to Albaraka’s founder, Sh. Saleh Kamel.
An important takeaway from the GIFF event is Malaysia needs to think beyond the increasing cluttered space of Islamic finance hubs. The development of IILM corporation implies leading, without cheerleading, the transaction side of Islamic finance, as Islamic finance 2.0 is more about liquidity and less about listings, be it sukuk or syariah-compliant companies……………………………………….Full Article: Source