Indonesia may hold its first sale of sukuk backed by road and rail projects on May 31, said Dahlan Siamat, director of Islamic finance at the finance ministry.

The ministry is waiting for parliament to approve 30 trillion rupiah ($3.5 billion) of state-owned land and office buildings to be used to back sukuk offerings, Siamat said in an interview in Jakarta on May 4. Shariah-compliant bonds pay return on assets to comply with Islam’s ban on interest……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party, set up by the Muslim Brotherhood to run in this year’s parliamentary election, is proposing the government sell Islamic bonds for the first time.

“There’s a high percentage of the Egyptian people that has reservations about charging interest,” Ashraf Badr el Din, a member of the Brotherhood committee that wrote the party’s economic platform, said in an interview from Cairo on May 2. “Having this tool for financing will encourage these people to invest their money.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

The global Islamic finance industry is valued at $1.14 trillion and is growing at a rate of 10 per cent annually, says Global Islamic Finance Report for 2011.
Editor-in-Chief of the report, Professor Humayon Dar, said : “In the aftermath of the global financial crisis there is a pressing need for an alternative financial paradigm, one that is imbued with a sense of social responsibility whilst maintaining a profit maximisation objective. Islamic finance presents such an alternative. Since its inception 40 years ago, Islamic finance has grown and is still growing at a precipitous rate. More Muslim and non-Muslim countries are adopting Islamic finance services highlighting a bright future for this once niche industry”………………………………………Full Article: Source

According to the Global Islamic Finance Report 2011, strides have been taken by the global Islamic finance industry over the last 40 years. Ensuring continuity and expansion will require further domestic and global regulatory changes, expediting development and consolidating growth.

The launch of the second annual Global Islamic Finance Report, GIFR 2011, comes at an opportune time within the broader financial market space. The recession has led to a great deal of commercial soul searching. As policy makers attempt to use the financial tools at their disposal, Islamic financial practices and products represents a new way of thinking and a viable medium.(Press Release)

Malaysia is at the forefront of global Islamic finance, with an average annual industry growth of 20 per cent over the past five years, says Malaysia’s Chief Justice of Federal Court, Zaki Tun Azmi. At the same time, Azmi said that Malaysia is in a privileged position to drive performance in the Islamic banking industry by adopting best business practices and infusing innovation to enable sustainable growth in the financial sector.

The rate of growth of Islamic financing in Malaysia has been very impressive over the years especially after the recent global financial crisis, said the Chief Justice……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Commercialbank is in talks with Islamic banks to see whether they are interested in procuring former’s Shariah-compliant investments, Group CEO Andy Stevens has said.
“The discussions are ongoing. We have written to all the Islamic banks and offered these on a very equitable basis. We have no problems whatsoever implementing the Qatar Central bank circular on Islamic windows of conventional banks,” Stevens told Gulf Times……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plans to increase the share of Islamic banking system from the existing seven percent to 12 percent in the next two years, an official said on Wednesday.

Saleem Ullah, Director, Islamic Banking Department, SBP, said this at a ceremony of unveiling logo of World Islamic Finance Summit 2011……………………………………….Full Article: Source

One of Scotland’s best-known manufacturing sites has changed hands in a £53 million deal funded by an Islamic bank. The Rolls-Royce manufacturing and logistics facility at Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, where the aerospace engineer makes parts for aircraft engines, has been acquired by Gatehouse Bank, a wholesale Sharia-compliant investment bank based in London.

The bank paid £52.7m to take the property from a fund run by Evans Randall, an independent investment banking and private equity group. The 17-year lease held by Rolls-Royce is unaffected……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic banking has the solution to overcome Indian state of Kerala’s infrastructure deficiency, said Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Issac. He was speaking at an Islamic banking seminar, organized by Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Although our state has so many impediments to overcome, Islamic banking has a good future in Kerala and can accelerate the economic growth and provide new impetuous to trade and business in the state,” the minister said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Amana Takaful, a Sri Lanka based insurer operating on Islamic Shariah principles said it lost less money in 2010 despite higher claims, but was hamstrung by the lack of compliant instruments to generate higher investment income.
In 2010 gross written premium was flat at 1.17 billion rupees. The group had tightened underwriting in its Maldives business, resulting in a drop of revenue to 2.5 million US dollars from 3.2 million a year earlier……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic insurance company Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd is looking to grow its present customer base of one million by 25% by the end of this year, through increased distribution channels and introduction of new products.

According to group managing director Datuk Hassan Kamil, Takaful Malaysia would double the number of its retail agents to 2,000 by the end of 2011 as a result of its aggressive recruitment drive……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Despite the growing number of Takaful players in Malaysia, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd is optimistic of sustaining growth this year as it purely promoted Islamic insurance products compared with other new players, says Group Managing Director Datuk Mohamed Hassan Md Kamil.

To expand its reach, the company will recruit more agents and launch a an retirement insurance scheme and an investment link product in June and August, respectively……………………………………….Full Article: Source

As the Islamic funds industry seeks to shake off a period of stagnation, leading players are developing far-sighted strategies that will get the industry back on the growth track.
‘The broader Islamic financial markets are undergoing significant change as the sukuk market receives a boost from exciting new cross-border issuances that indicate that confidence and demand are fast returning to the record levels of 2007,’ said organiser Mega Events managing director David Mclean……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The new Shari’ah-compliant fund provides exposure to a combination of global equity, property and income. According to the press release, in an environment of rising inflation and increased volatility, this launch comes at an opportune time for investors to mitigate these risks and to derive inflation-beating returns at lower volatility over the medium to long term.

“This marks a significant milestone in our objective to offer investors a global investment range that addresses their investment needs over all life stages,” said Adam Ebrahim, Oasis CEO and Chief Investment Officer……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Bursa Malaysia Bhd expects to launch a sustainability index next year to further promote the sustainability agenda for corporate Malaysia, its Chief Regulatory Officer Selvarany Rasiah said.

She said the exchange was currently working on the details of the index and expected to announce it sometime this year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Indonesia Stock Exchange plans to launch its first index of Shariah-compliant companies next week as part of efforts to diversify the country’s investor base and attract more investment from the Middle East.

The Indonesian Shariah Stock Index is expected to make its debut on Wednesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and Ecole Superieure des Affaires (ESA) have launched the Arabic version of the Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ). The Arabic IFQ was developed in partnership with ESA, the Central Bank of Lebanon and the CISI and the IFQ syllabus, workbook and examination are now fully Sharia’a compliant, offering essential knowledge of the general principles of Sharia’a and its application to Islamic banking and finance.

Since the launch of the initial English language version of the IFQ in March 2007 more than 1,800 examinations have been sat and over 1,000 of these were sat internationally. (Press Release)