Dubai’s government took control of Dubai Bank on Monday to prevent a collapse undermining the state’s banking sector. Dubai said it will inject an unspecified amount of capital into the bank and its takeover would protect depositors’ interests.
“In terms of credibility of the UAE banking system, it was very important that the bank did not default. A default by Dubai Bank would have raised worries about other local banks operating in the country,” Mohammed Yasin, chief investment officer at CAPM Investments in Abu Dhabi, said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Or, what happens when an autocratic put and bad debts collide? In which FT Alphaville wonders if one of 2011′s greatest stunts in defying credit gravity (charts via Exotix)……is on the verge of running into trouble. Dubai – ‘Switzerland of the East’ in these days of Arab instability – abruptly announced its first ever bank failure on Monday.
Dubai Bank PJSC, an Islamic lender owned by Dubai Holding LLC and Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAAR), was rescued by Dubai’s government after loan losses increased……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The exponential growth of Islamic banking since its emergence in the late 1970’s was interrupted by the ice age in the post-Lehman capital markets in 2008-09, the default of international sukuk issues by high profile borrowers, the Nakheel standstill shock and subsequent Dubai World debt restructuring, and now the MENA unrest.
With assets estimated at a trillion dollars, Islamic finance is no longer a miniscule, exotic niche of the global banking village……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Sharjah Islamic Bank will meet investors this week with plans to sell about $500m of sukuk (Islamic bonds) as a scarcity of offerings drives down borrowing costs for banks to record lows in the Persian Gulf.
Sales of Islamic bonds from the six- member Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) slumped 58% to $ 964m so far this year, compared with the same period last year, Bloomberg data show……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) plans to issue a sukuk, or Islamic bond, in the third quarter this year as it looks to secure a long-term source of funding, a source said.
The source said the bank would likely issue a programme with a five-year maturity and that it was still “looking at different options” regarding the size and currency of the sukuk……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak spoke on how the structures of Islamic finance can support the new global economic architecture that is emerging. “We should look closely at this. Indeed, in place of excess, Islamic finance offers moderation and transparency. In place of greed, Islamic finance offers fairness,” he said.
He was delivering his speech, “The coalition of the moderates and intercivilisational understanding,” at the Sheldonian Theatre at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in London yesterday………………………………………Full Article: Source

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that the structures of Islamic finance should be looked closely as to how it could support the new global economic architecture that is emerging.
He said the Islamic world has showed that it can be an economic force and there was great potential for Islamic finance to be expanded……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Oman’s central bank has given approval to establish the sultanate’s first standalone Islamic bank, in a bid to grab a share of the rapidly growing Sharia-compliant banking industry.
In a statement to Oman’s state-run news agency, the central bank said it had agreed to the establishment of Bank Nizwa, adding “it will consider any application to open windows for the Islamic banking by any bank operating in the Sultanate wishing to provide such services.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

Asked to close down their Islamic banking arms by 2011-end, conventional banks want to continue to manage the loan portfolios of the concerned units until their maturity. These portfolios are proposed to be managed independently of the bank’s mainstream conventional operations, as a special case.
Conventional banks are, though, willing to convert their Islamic banking branches into commercial ones after the closure deadline of December 31, as directed by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Stanbic Bank Tanzania Limited is set to launch mortgage loans, vehicle loans and home loans through its Shariah Banking product sometime this year, its senior official has said.According to Mr Mohammed Issa, the bank’s board supervisor Shariah banking, the service is expected to start in the next few months whereby the product’s customers will access loans, which are shariah compliant.
“The products that are in compliance with Shariah law will include transactional accounts, savings accounts and deposit products, mortgage loans, vehicle loans and home loans. We are aimed at attracting clientele discouraged by conventional banking, which disagreed with their faith,” he said over the weekend in Dar es Salaam……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on Monday launched a master’s degree program in Islamic finance and banking in cooperation with Malaysia’s Insaniah University.
IDB President Ahmed Muhammad Ali, who launched the program, said it was aimed at training qualified manpower required for the Islamic banking industry……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic Financial Services Board 1 - (IFSB) Summit began with opening speeches by Jaseem Ahmed, Secretary-General of the IFSB, HE Yves Mersch, Governor Banque centrale du Luxembourg and Summit host, HE Faris A. Sharaf, Governor Central Bank of Jordan as well as HE Dr. Sri Muliani Indrawati, Managing Director of The World Bank Group.
The 8th IFSB Summit themed “Enhancing Global Financial Stability: Challenges and Opportunities for Islamic Finance” is held in Luxembourg and hosted by the Banque centrale du Luxembourg. (Press Release)