From Reuters: Kenya may pass legislation to eliminate tax barriers to Islamic bond issuance by the end of the year with the government looking to launch Islamic treasury bills and bonds, known as sukuk, bankers said.
Kenya, the largest economy in east Africa, has yet to tap international markets but is eyeing Islamic bonds as an option to raise funds from sharia-compliant investors, central bank Governor Njuguna Ndung’u said in an email………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: Two property developers from the United Arab Emirates are planning to list Islamic real estate investment trusts worth a combined 2 billion ringgit ($656 million) in Malaysia this year. The companies will be the first from the Gulf to sell Islamic REITs in the Southeast Asian nation, said Raja Teh Maimunah, global head of Islamic markets at Bursa Malaysia Bhd., which manages the country’s stock and bond exchanges.
The portfolio of properties includes residential and commercial real estate in the UAE, she said. Malaysia is attracting overseas investors from the Middle East as the political turmoil in the region boosts appetite for assets in the world’s biggest market for sukuk, or Shariah-compliant bonds………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Joongang Daily: Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian prime minister, yesterday defended Islamic financing in the wake of the controversy in Korea over the issuance of Islamic sukuk bonds by local companies.
Speaking at the Global Korea 2011 conference at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, Mahathir said that sukuk bonds “were not about religion, but doing business.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bt.com.bn: Darussalam’s Islamic financial sector is set to expand in the coming years, following a series of advances that will strengthen its operational and regulatory base and bridge some of the gaps that have restricted the development of new products and services.
Islamic financial products already play a central role in the local economy, with sharia-compliant banking holding a 40 per cent market share, a total forecast to reach between 55 per cent and 60 per cent in the next five years or so………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Moneyweb.co.za: The growth of Islamic finance continued strongly through 2009 and 2010, even as most of the world’s financial systems found themselves deleveraging amid the capital market downturn in global economies.
Standard & Poor’s (S&P’s) Ratings Services show that Shari’ah-compliant assets reached about $400 billion across the globe in 2009; with the potential market figures coming in at $4 trillion. Islamic banking - untouched by subprime-mortgage-backed securities and other “noxious assets” that devastated many Western institutions during the recession - continues to grow at a rate of about 20 percent a year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: First Finance CEO Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti has applauded moves by the Qatar Central Bank to impose greater regulation on conventional banks offering Islamic services over concerns that ‘unhealthy competition could lead to over-aggressive practices’.
“The market is too small to allow more conventional banks to open Islamic windows,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Board of directors unanimously appoints Khadem Abdulla Al Qubaisi as the Bank’s new chairman, following the recent departure of former chairman, Esam Janahi. Bahrain-basedFirst Energy Bank (FEB) held its first Board Meeting for the year on 9 February.
A statement from the bank said, “The appointment of Khadem Al Qubaisi falls in line with FEB’s strategic vision, and is a testament to the Board’s trust in both Al Qubaisi’s abilities and his vast experience in the banking and finance sector.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thenews.com.pk: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has increased the Statutory Liquidity Requirement (SLR) for Islamic banks to 14 percent of the total demand liabilities, including time deposits with a tenor of less than one-year.
In a circular issued on Wednesday, the central bank said that the new requirement will be effective from April and would exclude Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR). The existing SLR, after a reduction in October, 2008 stands at nine percent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Globalarabnetwork.com: Moody’s Investors Service has placed on review for possible downgrade the deposit ratings and standalone bank financial strength ratings (BFSRs) of three Bahraini retail banks, Global Arab Network reports according to a press statement:
National Bank of Bahrain B.S.C. (NBB): A3 long-term local and foreign-currency deposit ratings and C- BFSR. BMI Bank B.S.C. (BMI): Baa3/Prime-3 local and foreign-currency deposit ratings and D BFSR………………………………………..Full Article: Source

ABC Islamic Bank today announced a net profit of US$2.1 million for 2010 compared to US$10.1 million for 2009. Total operating income was US$15.9 million compared to US$20.4 million for 2009, due to lower rates and de-risking of balance sheet asset size. Staff and operating costs of US$4.9 million were also lower than the previous year of US$5.0 million.
Impairment provisions of US$8.6 million were taken for regional exposures during the year, US$3.6 million higher than the previous year………………………………………..Full Press Release: Source

From Ngex.com: Nigeria’s Senate has approved a request by 14 states and the Federal Government to borrow $1.137 billion from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the International Development Association (IDA), French Development Agency (FDA) and Indian Line of Credit.
The loans are in line with Nigeria’s external borrowing guidelines and are meant for economic and power reforms, rural development, special intervention for infrastructural development in some states and social programme development in others………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Bernama: The World Halal Forum (WHF) is expected to see the unveiling of “Halal 2.0″ at this year’s event to be held on April 4-5 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
WHF director Abdalhamid Evans said Halal 2.0 would involve interactions between the halal sector and Islamic finance, and he described it as “the biggest shift that we are going to see over the coming decade”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Microcapital.org: Ajmal Bhatty, chief executive of Tokio Marine Middle East, a “takaful” (Islamic insurance) provider based in Dubai, reportedly has stated that the recent political turmoil in Egypt will create a greater need for financial protection in the country and will hence provide Tokio Marine an opportunity to further extend its takaful services to the Egyptian market.
As a complement to existing microfinance programs operated by other entities, Tokio Marine is looking into starting micro-takaful schemes in the region…………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Asiaone.com: Financial news wire Bloomberg LP has launched a new Malaysian ringgit sukuk index to provide a benchmark for ringgit sovereign sukuk investments.
Referred to as the Bursa Malaysia Sovereign Shariah Index (BMSSI), it was developed with the help of the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (Aibim) and will form part of Bloomberg’s Islamic Finance Platform which seeks to leverage on the growing demand for information for syariah-compliant products and services………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Bernama: KPMG has been named “Best Islamic Assurance and Advisory Services Provider” in the 2011 Euromoney Islamic Finance Awards.
In a statement Thursday, managing parter Mohamed Raslan Abdul Rahman of KPMG in Malaysia said: “I am absolutely delighted to see KPMB receive this award for what is now a record-breaking fourth year in a row………………………………………..Full Article: Source