From Dailystar.com.lb: The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) plans to issue Islamic bonds to banks in the first quarter of 2011 as a tool for injecting and withdrawing liquidity from the money market. PMA Governor Jihad al-Wazir said the banks would trade the bonds, or sukuk, among themselves.
“We will start bit by bit to see the needs of the market based on liquidity management,” Wazir told Reuters, but said it was too early to say which currency the bonds would be denominated in, or how much would be issued……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Investor concern that Persian Gulf property prices will extend declines is denting confidence in a rebound of the region’s Islamic bond market. Dubai will need another 20 months to absorb an oversupply of homes and offices, Mohamed Alabbar, the chairman of Emaar Properties PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ biggest developer, said.
Aldar Properties PJSC, Abu Dhabi’s largest real- estate company, posted its biggest loss on record in the third quarter and said two days ago it’s working with the emirate’s government to help cover cash requirements……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Sfgate.com: Emirates Telecommunications Corp., the United Arab Emirates’ largest phone company, said it will borrow as much as $8 billion by issuing bonds and sukuk as it seeks to buy a 46 percent stake in Kuwait’s biggest operator for about $12 billion.
The company set up a $7 billion medium-term note program and a $1 billion Islamic bond program, it said in an e-mailed statement today. The programs will allow the company to diversify its funding and manage debt maturity, according the statement……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: First Gulf Bank, the third- largest lender in Abu Dhabi, will delay a plan to sell bonds because interest rates aren’t favourable, said a spokesman at the bank.
First Gulf doesn’t need to borrow funds immediately and will monitor market conditions before selling debt, said the spokesman who declined to be identified, citing company policy……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Qatarmorningpost.com: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank announced a 750-million-dollar issue of five-year sukuk Islamic bonds, the first since 2006, rated A2 by Moody’s and A+ by Fitch with a stable outlook from both.
The second largest Islamic lender in the United Arab Emirates said in a statement that the issue was oversubscribed by nearly 4.8 times, adding the demand highlights confidence in the bank……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From PTI: The Reserve Bank of India today informed the Kerala High Court that it has not issued any certificate of Registration under the RBI Act to any company for carrying out business of a Non Banking Finance Company (NBFC) in accordance with the principles of Shariat.
This was stated in an additional affidavit filed by P Bhaghe, RBI’’s Deputy General Manager, on a Public Interest Litigation by Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy, challenging the proposal to start an Islamic Financial Institution on the lines of Islamic banks in the state, with support of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Peopledaily.com.cn: Islamic finance can bring about growth and development, while contributing towards preserving financial stability, a Malaysian official said.
This was because the growth in Islamic financial assets was generally accompanied with growth of underlying activities that have economic value, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, said in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: From Australia to South Africa, governments are scrambling to change the law to accommodate the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry, whose avoidance of toxic debt has looked increasingly attractive since the global crisis.
But in the Gulf Arab region, birthplace of Islam and cradle of Islamic finance, governments have taken a more passive approach, which experts say is slowing the industry’s growth……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Mondaq.com: Under the current taxation laws, there are various approaches to the treatment of financial products, which can be the legal form based approach, the economic substance based approach or a mix of these approaches.
For example, it is not unusual for the Islamic financial product to have the same economic substance as the Western financial product but due the intrinsic legal difference between the two the products are taxed differently (i.e. as it is common for tax provisions to look to the legal form of an arrangement to understand its economic substance)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: The 17th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2010) in Bahrain will call for new growth strategies that leading institutions will have to adopt to succeed in the new global financial landscape.
A Bahraini Central Bank official noted that Islamic finance continued to be one of the fastest growing segments in the global financial system and had become increasingly important in international markets……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya Dow Jones: The United Arab Emirates central bank will “soon” offer Sharia-compliant certificates of deposits, or CDs, based on the Murabaha concept in a bid to help local Islamic banks manage cash, according to an official statement published Thursday.
The Sharia-compliant CDs will serve as “a monetary policy tool for the Central Bank of the U.A.E .” and “as a liquidity management tool for the Islamic banks,” the central bank said in a circular posted on its website……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Kuwaittimes.net: Kuwait Finance House, the country’s biggest Islamic lender, is looking for real estate investments in southern China and Europe as it seeks to more than double its portfolio, a senior official said.
Kuwait Finance House (KFH) wants to increase global assets under management (AUM) to about $4 billion in coming years from $1.5 billion with a focus on residential property, Ali Al-Ghannam, international real estate department manager, told Reuters. He didn’t give a timeframe……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Dubai Group, an investment conglomerate that is part of Dubai Holding, is initiating talks with creditors after it missed an interest payment last month on a $33 million (Dh121.11 million) loan.
The five-year loan, which matures on December 13, 2011, was used to fund Dubai Group’s acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in Bank Islam Malaysia. Bank Islam earlier this year said Dubai Group was trying to sell the stake……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Emirates247.com: The global fiscal distress depressed growth in the combined Arab economies to one of its lowest levels of around 1.5 per cent in 2009 while their current account balance was also jolted by lower oil prices, official data showed.
But the crisis also had its benefits as it pulled regional countries out of the throes of festering inflation that hit record high rates in some nations, mainly in the oil-rich Gulf, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) said……………………………………….Full Article: Source