The Malaysian government plans to sell $2 billion in global sukuk by the end of June or early July, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The source said that the joint lead managers for the sukuk issue are Citi , HSBC , CIMB and Malayan Banking. The wakala-structured sukuk will be offered in a combination of two tenor tranches, which are still being finalised, the source added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt’s National Bank for Development (NBD) has unveiled its new Shari’ah-compliant medium-term savings product offering annual profit posted on monthly basis with expected profit rate ranging between 9-9.25 per cent.
“Launching the 5-year Sukuk plus reflects NBD’s strategy to continuously launch new Shari’ah-compliant products tailor made to meet customers’ needs in the Egyptian market which comes as a result of the periodical studies of the trends in the Egyptian market that the bank conducts in order to cater to the wide variety of the changing customers’ needs.” said Nevine Loutfy, NBD Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Southeast Asia may see an inflow of funds in search for Islamic banking alternatives. Analysts said the recent turmoil in the Middle East has driven some Shariah compliant investors to pull their money out of that region. And these funds could be heading towards aspiring Islamic finance centres like Malaysia and Singapore.
Analysts say Islamic finance has been growing at a rate of 25 per cent a year for the past decade and the main investors of Shariah compliant products remain institutions and high net worth individuals from the oil-rich Gulf states………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A large number of U.S. fund managers are intrigued by the possibility of raising a Shariah-compliant fund targeting Middle Eastern investors. Despite this initial interest, however, many fund managers are dissuaded from doing so because they simply don’t know where to begin.
Below are five basic pointers for any fund manager who might be inclined to develop a Shariah-compliant fund and conduct fund-raising efforts in the Middle East………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Customers are often worried and sceptical when a conventional bank starts offering Islamic banking products alongside its interest-based business. It could be taken as a ploy by conventional banks to take advantage of the commercial opportunity offered by Sharia sensitive customers. After all, how can the same bank be both conventional and Islamic at the same time?
To answer this question, the bankers and the customers need to appreciate the unique aspects that make Islamic banks different to conventional institutions. Once these parameters are understood, they would serve as a reference point to assess the credibility of the Islamic window offering by financial institutions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Top Islamic banking officials will meet in Singapore this week to discuss ways to revive an industry which has stalled as interest in new markets cool and legal uncertainties cloud the role of sukuk as funding tools.
Dwarfed by the size and financial muscle of its conventional banking rival, the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry looks at new markets beyond the Middle East and Southeast Asia for growth………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It is assumed that Kazakhstan OIC chairmanship will be asserted to them by the end of June 2011. Tajikistan currently holds the OIC chairmanship. Malaysian bank Amanah Raya’s head of corporate finance thinks this opportunity will bring between $500 and $600 million in foreign investments to Kazakhstan’s sukuk (Islamic bond sector).
Amanah Raya is said to be establishing an Islamic bank in Kazakhstan by the end of 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Structured finance has no particular definition. Generally, it involves the packaging together of various legal structures to produce a financial product or solution.
In an Islamic finance context, the starting point is to analyze the commercial objectives of the customer. Once those are known then it is a question of looking at the possible Shari’ah compliant financing techniques and undertaking the relevant due diligence, which can extend to matters such as legal research, tax analysis and a review of any underlying assets that are to be employed in the Islamic financing………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Insurance company will expand agency network with home-based and other franchise options for UAE nationals.
Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development which is mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SEM) sector, has launched a partnership with Noor Takaful to attract more UAE national entrepreneurs into the insurance industry offering them flexible business start-up options………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Alliance Islamic Bank Berhad, a subsidiary of Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, has announced the introduction of the Alliance Family Takaful Investment-Linked Plan, a Shariah-compliant family takaful investment-linked product.
This product launch is a tripartite collaboration between Alliance Islamic Bank Berhad with Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (Takaful IKHLAS), a general and life takaful provider, and FWU Malaysia Sdn Bhd (FWU Malaysia), a subsidiary of German-based financial services provider, FWU Group………………………………………..Full Article: Source

More than 1,200 delegates from over 50 countries are set to join the leaders from the global Islamic finance industry at the 18th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2011) in Bahrain, confirming the Kingdom’s position as the leading global hub for Islamic finance.
Announcing the launch of WIBC 2011, David McLean, Managing Director of the World Islamic Banking Conference, said that “The Kingdom of Bahrain for many years has played a leading role in the development of the international Islamic finance industry. (Press Release)

One strand of Prevent aimed to use taxpayers’ money to fund a variety of groups claiming to draw young British Muslims away from violent extremism. If the theory was poor, the reality was worse.
Prevent swiftly became a magnet for racketeers, a cash-cow for extremists and a textbook example of government overreach………………………………………..Full Article: Source