Luxembourg’s finance ministry will decide on whether to issue Sukuk bonds, which are compliant with Islamic rules on finance and lending, the country’s central bank governor said Thursday.
“That’s a question for the finance ministry given [that] the recent better situation in tax receipts may have disturbed debt issuance plans,” Yves Mersch said on the sidelines of a conference about Islamic finance being held here………………………………………Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank, the Arabian Gulf country’s biggest Sharia-compliant lender, plans to sell Islamic bonds this year to help reduce debt payments, acting CEO Ahmad Meshari said.
The bonds, called sukuk, will have a maturity of more than five years. Details of the sale will be announced in the third quarter, Meshari said……………………………………..Full Article: Source

A unit of Malaysian builder Ranhill will issue up tp 710 million ringgit of Islamic medium term notes, Ranhill said on Thursday.
Ranhill Powertron II Sdn Bhd will issue the medium term notes under the musharaka principle. The programme has a 18-year tenure and notes will be issued in two tranches……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank, or IsDB, is planning to launch a dollar-denominated sukuk, one of the banks running the sale said Thursday. A sukuk is a bond that complies with Sharia, the Islamic religious law.
The sukuk is expected to be launched, subject to market conditions, following the completion of its fixed income investor meetings in the Middle East, Asia and Europe………………………………………Full Article: Source

Pakistan’s 13-fold increase in Islamic bond sales will help fund the country’s budget deficit as US lawmakers debate whether to suspend aid on suspicion its military harboured Osama Bin Laden.
The world’s second-most populous Muslim country will take advantage of last year’s 30 per cent growth in local Islamic banking assets to sell sukuk, Saleem Ullah, the central bank’s director of Sharia finance, said in an interview May 6………………………………………Full Article: Source

HE Mohammed Abdullah, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has revealed that the bank is gearing up to issue Sukuk that will be soon listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The volume and value of the issuance are both subject to market conditions, and will be determined after the completion of the road shows taking place in the Middle East, Asia and Europe that were officially launched on 9 May 2011 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The value of the Sukuk will be announced after subscription has closed………………………………………Full Article: Source

Islamic finance has hit another storm. It has already weathered the global financial crisis, the Dubai debt standstill and disputes over what complies with strict religious rules. Now, there is poliitical turbulence in the Middle East and north Africa - among the main centres for this niche and emerging sector.
So far, equities and products such as Islamic bonds, or sukuk, are holding up in spite of the instability. There is also continuing demand for financing for infrastructure projects………………………………………Full Article: Source

There are no Islamic banks operating in Oman but that is set to change following a decision to allow Shari’ah-compliant financial services in the Sultanate.
HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said presided over a meeting of the Omani Council of Ministers at Hisn al Shomoukh on 2 May 2011. Buried towards the bottom of the official Oman News Agency summary of the meeting was the following statement, “Within the context of the attention given to the banking sector, His Majesty approved the establishment of an Islamic Bank and allowing the banks in the Sultanate to open new branches if they wish so.”……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gatehouse Bank plc, the City of London-based wholesale investment bank, has acquired a 541,962 sq ft core manufacturing and logistics facility in Glasgow, Scotland which is let to Rolls Royce plc. The deal was worth £52.7m and was completed using a Shari’ah compliant structure.
The site was bought in a corporate purchase from a fund managed by Evans Randall, the privately held UK investment banking and private equity group. The sellers were advised by Davenport Lyons. Financing for the transaction was provided by Helaba, who were advised by Taylor Wessing………………………………………Full Article: Source

A roundtable meeting of senior bank officials and finance professionals held in Dubai has come up with a number of recommendations on how to strengthen financial reporting by Islamic financial institutions (IFI).
The meeting, one of a series organised by Big Four accounting firm KPMG and ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), was intended to develop recommendations that can be presented to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on whether to develop specific guidance or a separate financial reporting standard for Islamic financial institutions………………………………………Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank and Indonesia agree to set up The Member Country Partnership Strategy in pursuit of a financing program worth up to US$3.3 billion, which will be chaneled to the sharia financing.
“We call on the IDB to help with the sharia-based micro financing as well as facilitating Indonesia in issuing sharia bonds (sukuk),” said Agus Martowardojo on Wednesday………………………………………Full Article: Source

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd (HSBC Malaysia) said it will sharpen the focus on Islamic banking to further ride on the strong demand for Shariah-based products in the country, executive director and deputy chief executive officer, Jonathan Addis said.
“Overall, we see the Islamic business growing faster than the conventional segment and we will continue to concentrate on this very heavily via our Shariah-compliant unit, HSBC Amanah,” he told Bernama in an interview………………………………………Full Article: Source

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) posted a 10.89% rise in net profit to RM1.14bil for the third quarter ended March 31 compared to the corresponding quarter last year on growth in loans and debt securities across all business segments except the local small-medium enterprise segment.
For the quarter under review, revenue was 11.8% higher at RM5.12bil compared to a year ago………………………………………Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top-tier Islamic financial services group, announced the launch of its ‘Banoun’ Children’s Account, a Shari’a compliant savings account that enables parents to save for their children and provides them with a host of unique features and privileges.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top-tier Islamic financial services group, announced the launch of its ‘Banoun’ Children’s Account, a Shari’a compliant savings account that enables parents to save for their children and provides them with a host of unique features and privileges……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment & Export Credit (ICIEC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, and the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on reinsurance for trade and projects in sub-Saharan Africa.
The MOU was signed on behalf of ICIEC by Dr. Abdel Rahman El-Tayeb Taha, CEO of ICIEC and Mr. George Otieno, CEO of ATI; at ATI headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya………………………………………Full Article: Source

Mashreq, one of the UAE’s leading financial institutions, has signed an exclusive agreement with Bank of China to establish a ‘China Desk’ in the UAE.
Representatives from Bank of China and Mashreq will operate the desk. It will offer corporate banking solutions to Chinese companies and organisations operating in the Gulf region, and UAE companies looking to do business in China………………………………………Full Article: Source

The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced that it has achieved a net income of US$ 53.5 million in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 11% on the net income achieved in the first quarter of 2010.
Similarly, statement of financial positions witnessed moderate increases. Total assets increased by 3%, total financing and investments by 1%, deposits including equity of investment accountholders by 2% as at the end of March 2011 as compared with the end of December 2010. (Press Release)

Tamweel PJSC (TAMWEEL), the home finance company majority owned by Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB), rebounded on speculation a 19 percent slide in the past two days after a more than two-year suspension was overdone.
The shares rose 6 percent to 85 fils at the 2 p.m. close in Dubai, after earlier rising as much as 13 percent. Tamweel tumbled 19 percent in the first two trading sessions since Nov. 20, 2008………………………………………Full Article: Source

Amlak Finance, the larger of the UAE’s two Islamic home financing companies, lost Dh54.7 million (US$14.8m) in the first three months of the year due to falling revenues and higher defaults.
The results underscore the financial limbo Amlak has been in since it stopped offering new mortgages in late 2008. Battered by Dubai’s property slump, Amlak halted trading of its shares on the Dubai Financial Market that year as authorities tried to work out a merger with the country’s other big home financier, Tamweel………………………………………Full Article: Source

Troubled Islamic mortgage lender Amlak said on Thursday net loss for the first-quarter soared, hurt by higher provisions and a sharp drop in revenues.
The Dubai lender made a net loss of AED53.9m ($14.67m) for the quarter, compared with a loss of AED3.1m during the same period in 2010, it said in a statement to the Dubai bourse………………………………………Full Article: Source

Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd (Takaful Malaysia) introduced its latest exclusive and innovative product, Takaful mySME which focuses on risk management solutions for the four top business sectors in Malaysia.
Takaful Malaysia chief marketing officer Alex Tan initiated a panel discussion by stating that ‘risk management’ was understood to be ‘insurance’ which in turn meant ‘protection’ for individuals and businesses alike………………………………………Full Article: Source

Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd (HLFG) expects its takaful unit to register a gross contribution of RM100 million for the financial year ending June 30, 2011 from RM65.45 million last year.
The company’s takaful unit has now adopted a new name, Hong Leong MSIG Takaful Bhd (HLMT). This follows the acquisition of a 35 per cent equity interest by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI) in HLMT for RM33.64 million………………………………………Full Article: Source