The UK Treasury is fast-tracking a number of laws in the Finance Bill 2011 to plug several tax avoidance loopholes including those related to high-end stamp duty land tax (SDLT) in commercial property transactions — both conventional and alternative (Islamic) real estate transactions.
The loophole includes the use of offshore vehicles to avoid paying full stamp duty tax on property transactions, normally in excess of 500,000 pounds up to a few millions of pounds……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Century Banking Corporation Ltd, Mauritius’s first fully-fledged Islamic bank, has officially opened, as the palm-fringed island strives to become a regional Islamic banking hub.
Pitching itself as a financial platform bridging Africa, the Indian sub-continent and Asia, Mauritius seeks to tap into what has become one of the world’s fastest growing financial sectors, with approximately one trillion dollars in assets believed to be managed in accordance with Islamic principles……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Officials meeting in the shadow of the snowy towers of Kazan’s 16th century white Kremlin are in an unlikely site for hatching groundbreaking financial plans. But Kazan in Russia’s Tatarstan region aims to be the first place in Russia to launch an Islamic bond, with a test case in July that will test the appetite for Islamic financial products in Russia, bne has reported.
Countries ranging from France to the United Kingdom, and Thailand to Brazil are all exploring how to use Islamic financial investment to draw gulf petrodollars into their economies……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Another sign that Asia is leading the revolution in the development of an Islamic Capital Market (ICM) is the latest encouraging data to emerge from Malaysia’s Securities Commission (SC), the countries securities regulator.
The 2010 SC Annual Report, which was released in March 2011, confirms that the size of the ICM in Malaysia exceeded RM1.07 trillion at the end of 2010, thus breaking the RM1 trillion barrier for the first time. At the same time the ICM recorded an impressive growth of 15.2 percent in fiscal year 2010. In fact, the ICM is now growing at a rate equal if not faster than the conventional capital market……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Malaysia harbours a global aspiration for the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD) to be given a significant boost, strengthen and maintain the nation’s leadership in Islamic finance and banking, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Malaysia has been maintaining its leadership in Islamic banking and finance for over three decades now with 60 per cent of the international Sukuk issued from here……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Malaysia may sell ringgit- denominated Islamic bonds to help finance construction of a mass railway in Kuala Lumpur as part of a $444 billion investment program, Prime Minister Najib Razak said in an interview.
The government estimates the network will cost 48 billion ringgit ($16 billion) to build, making it the single biggest development project undertaken by Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd., a unit of Malaysia’s second-largest lender, comments on the government’s plan to raise funds for a 48 billion ringgit ($16 billion) railway project in Kuala Lumpur.
The government may sell ringgit-denominated Islamic bonds to help finance construction of a mass railway system in Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Najib Razak said on March 29. The project will be the country’s single biggest infrastructure development, said Najib……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Malaysia’s global Islamic bond sales rose to a record this quarter and outstripped issuance from the Arabian Gulf as the government started a $444bn development programme.
The sales by 11 local companies and the government rose four-fold to $2.9bn from $730mn a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The overall figures suggest that 2010 witnessed a recovery in the Sukuk market with total global issuance reaching $30bn: double the figure for 2008. While the GCC Sukuk market languished during 2009, Malaysia motored ahead.
Of the total value of Sukuk issued in 2010 about $8.6bn was listed on Bursa Malaysia which accounted for about 30% of total global issuance. Among the notable listings were Sime Darby’s RM4.5bn ($1.49bn) Musharakah Sukuk, the Malaysian government’s $1.25bn Global Sukuk Al-Ijarah and the Islamic Development Bank’s $3.5bn Sukuk. This helped Bursa Malaysia maintain its lead position as a Sukuk listing destination……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The extra yield investors demand to hold Dubai’s 6.396 percent dollar Islamic bond over Abu Dhabi state-owned Tourism Development & Investment Co.’s 4.949 percent sukuk traded near a 16-month low after Dubai World signed a final accord to restructure its debt.
The spread narrowed 35 basis points to 213.3 after state- owned Dubai World signed the deal with creditors March 23, the data show……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Mid-sized Turkish lender Sekerbank is in the market with what will be Turkey’s first covered bond deal. The deal is being structured through Unicredit with strong support from the IFC, the private sector development arm of the World Bank, which owns 3% of Sekerbank.
The deal is likely to be five years in maturity and at least EUR200m in size. There will be four tranches: one being sold to private sector investors; one guaranteed by the European Investment Fund, with a Triple A rating; and one each bought directly by IFC and Dutch development agency FMO……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Pan Africa and Cannon Assurance, a composite insurance company in Kenya, are adding life Takaful to their portfolios later this year as part of the private sector’s drive to be the hub of Islamic finance in East Africa.
“We are obviously looking at it as it is an area we cannot ignore given the size of this emerging market,” CEO of Kenya’s Pan Africa Life Assurance, Tom Gitoho said, “but we want to do it well and are therefore not going to rush in,” he added……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC paid 374.7 million dirhams ($102 million) to buy a controlling stake in Tamweel PJSC as the United Arab Emirates’ biggest Islamic lender sought to boost mortgage financing in Dubai.
Dubai Islamic paid 318.6 million dirhams in cash and 56.1 million dirhams in treasury shares for the stake, according to the bank’s annual report distributed on March 31. The lender in September raised its share in Tamweel to 58.3 percent from 21 percent, without disclosing the value of the transaction……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The protests in Bahrain, and their brutal repression, have raised major questions over its future as a regional financial hub, analysts say, with banks acting to relocate employees and capital to elsewhere in the region in case conditions worsen despite the declaration of a three-month state of emergency.
Men walked near the Bahrain Financial Harbor in the captial, Manama……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Several top bankers from the Gulf and Arab world have already confirmed their participation in the eighth summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) to be held in Luxembourg on 12-13 May.
According to the updated list of participants, these will include central bank governors and representatives from Bahrain, the UAE, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Lebanon, as well as many international finance and economic experts……………………………………….Full Article: Source

There is much made of the ethical and giving nature of Islamic finance, and indeed there is much made of the practice and principals of Zakat. But for Islamic finance to be more than that, to be more than simply glorified conventional finance with a Shari’ah tint, then there should be more substantive work done - and be seen to be done - by the industry at large.
I am thinking here of more visible and high profile works that are for a great cause by themselves……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic finance refers to a financial system that is consistent with the principles of Sharia, the sacred law of Islam. It is different from regular banking in that it prohibits earning of interest (or riba) through the business of lending.
It also prohibits direct or indirect association with businesses involving alcohol, pork products, firearms and tobacco. It also does not allow speculation, betting and gambling……………………………………….Full Article: Source