From Ahlul Bayt News Agency: Islamic financing is gaining popularity in many non-Muslim countries such as Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore in recent years, Gatehouse Bank PLC chief executive officer Richard Thomas said.
“We are seeing greater interest in Islamic financing, especially by corporations in non-Muslim countries,” he said at the World Congress of Accountants yesterday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The launch by India’s Tata Group of its debut Islamic equity fund two weeks ago sees the entry of another major Indian asset management company in the Islamic finance space. This follows the establishment by the rival Reliance Anil Dhirubahi Ambani Group of a dedicated Islamic asset management company in Malaysia, Reliance Asset Management Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
While Reliance seems to be a bit over-cautious, Tata in October 2010 launched the Tata Indian Shariah Equity Fund (TISEF) through its Tata Asset Management (Mauritius) Private Limited (TAMM), which is also the fund manager……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Yields on Islamic bonds rose last week by the most in almost a month, extending two quarters of underperformance relative to emerging-market securities, on concern slumping sales will reduce trading.
Yields climbed 10 basis points to 4.59 percent this week, the biggest increase since the five-days ended Oct. 22, according to the HSBC/NASDAQ Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Index. Bonds in developing nations outperformed Shariah-compliant notes for the last six months as global sales of sukuk dropped 29 percent to $13.7 billion……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: For Algerian consumers seeking to avoid interest payments, sharia-compliant mortgages and other loans remain limited by an inadequate legal, institutional, and regulatory framework. An Islamic financing forum held Tuesday (November 9th) in Algiers examined how to satisfy these clients.
“The law on money and credit permits Islamic banking transactions and products, including mortgages, because these products don’t constitute any breach of the Algerian law, and not because these financial institutions are compliant with the principles of Sharia,” said Zoubir Ben Terdeyet of Isla Invest Consulting, which helped organise the conference……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Daily-mail.co.zm: Stanbic Bank Zambia may consider adopting Islamic banking model for the Muslim community in Zambia.However, this is subject to whether the Bank of Zambia (BoZ ) gets admitted to the regulatory authority and starts regulating this type of banking.
Newly appointed managing director Dennis Wayne Kennedy said as part of the Standard Bank group, the bank is testing Islamic banking in Tanzania before replicating it in other African countries such as Zambia……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Islamic Cooperative Bank of Malaysia (ICBM), the first bank to be owned by Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Bhd (Angkasa), is awaiting the greenlight from Cooperative Commission of Malaysia to start operations.
Angkasa president Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Ali Baharum said that 560 credit cooperatives with almost four million members and several non-credit based cooperatives had become associate members for the setting up of ICBM……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WAM: UAE Central Bank said that the inaugural auction of the Shariah-compliant certificates of deposit (CDs) was successful as the Islamic banks are participating in the auction of the newly launched Islamic finance product.
The Islamic banks operating in the country have started to participate in the auction, asserted the Central Bank of UAE……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Yobserver.com: The Cabinet approved on Tuesday the loan agreement signed on July 23 with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), as Director of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD). Under this agreement the IDB will contribute to funding of the project to support rural development opportunities with an amount of Islamic Dinar 8.33 million, USD 12.5 million.
The Cabinet directed the concerned ministers to follow up the completion of the legal and constitutional procedures required to endorse the agreement……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: Despite a small 0.8 percent increase in private-sector lending in September, Saudi banks are still looking for other locations to park their liquidity, according to the latest data from Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF).
In its November report, the finance house said that bank investments in foreign assets rose by 34.2 percent in the first nine months of the year, including an 11.1 percent rise month-on-month in September……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Ithmaar Bank has reported a profit of $11.1 million during the first three quarters of this year compared to a loss of $80.3 million during the same period last year.
‘On behalf of the Ithmaar Bank board of directors, I am pleased to report that the bank continues to report profits, despite challenging market conditions,’ said Ithmaar Bank chairman Prince Amr Mohammed Al Faisal……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has issued the new requirements incorporating the corporate governance code of the Kingdom in line with the code issued earlier this year by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The new rules issued last month for banks include both the new corporate governance code requirements (formally announced, the existing CBB requirements and new Board attendance rules)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: Dubai-listed Islamic mortgage lender Tamweel appointed Dubai Islamic Bank chief executive Abdulla Ali Al Hamli as its new chairman after the board of directors was dissolved last week, it said on Sunday.
Hamli replaces Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nahyan as chairman, according to the statement on the Nasdaq Dubai bourse website……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Brudirect.com: Takaful Brunei Darussalam formalised the renaming of its two subsidiaries and launched their new logos yesterday. The state-owned insurance operator said that it had renamed both of its subsidiaries to reflect their future business functions in line with the requirements of the Takaful Order, 2008.
Syarikat Takaful Brunei Darussalam Sdn Bhd was formed on April 4, 2007 to facilitate the merger of the two state-owned firms Takaful IBB Berhad and Takaful BIBD Sdn Bhd……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The annual pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia takes place this week when up to three million Muslims from all over the world converge on the holy places in Makkah and Madinah and its satellite towns to perform Haj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
While the Haj is deemed a spiritual journey, since its inception, it has always been associated with economic activity such as trade when Muslims converged on Makkah from all parts of the Ummah trading with each other and of course at the same time performing rituals of Haj……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: The International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) held its first meeting.The meeting, organised by Qatar Central Bank (QCB), brought together a number of representatives from IILM member states: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Nigeria, Indonesia, Mauritius and Luxembourg as well as the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development (ICD).
The establishment of the IILM was based on the recommendation of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), Secretary-General of IFSB, Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX), the first multi-asset exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), has announced its sponsorship of the 17th World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2010) as the strategic exchange partner.
The conference will take place from November 22-23 in Bahrain……………………………………….Full Article: Source