A report prepared by Kuwait Finance House Research Ltd (KFHR) said that ‘sukuk’ (Islamic Sharia-compliant bonds) has witnessed a sharp increase of 300 percent since the start of this year reaching in total $40 billion.
The annual report by KFHR, a branch of Kuwait Finance House (KFH), said that last May of this year witnessed an increase in global sukuk, 22.4 percent when compared to April of last year, reaching $four billion. The report added that last May sukuk worth in value $5.9 billion, while the total value of Sukuk since the start of this year has reached $40 billion……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Gasprombank, the financial arm of Russia’s gas exporting monopoly Gazprom, is building support for Sukuk but Russian legislation lags.
Executives from Gazprombank have been drumming up interest in South East Asia. Bloomberg reports Alexander Kazakov, director of structured and syndicated finance at the bank, speaking in Jakarta as claiming up to five companies were interested in Sukuk issuance. Separately, Kuala Lumpur-based AmanahRaya says it is working on a dollar-denominated Sukuk for Tatarstan……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) expects to raise up to 2 billion riyals ($533.3 million) from a planned Islamic bond offering to fund plant expansions, its chief executive said.
Sipchem, which plans to part-finance three projects worth over $1 billion with the sukuk sale, began roadshows for the bond on Saturday and sees book building to begin next week……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Bahrain’s decision to end a three- month state of emergency is restoring confidence in the island nation’s Islamic bonds.
While protests toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and fighting rages in Libya and Syria, Bahrain quelled violent street protests. The yield on Bahrain’s 6.247 percent sukuk maturing June 2014 dropped 115 basis points since March 31 to 2.81 percent, approaching a four-month low reached last week……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Cagamas Bhd has received the RAM Award of Distinction 2010 Blueprint Award in the Malaysian Innovation of the Year category.
In a statement today, the national mortgage corporation said the award was for its RM5 billion Sukuk al-Amanah Li al-Istithmar (Sukuk ALIm) programme……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has suspended the rating of Sukuk amounting to PKR 1,500 million ($17.4 million) issued by House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) due to non-availability of requisite information.
HBFC issued secured Sukukof PKR 1,500 million ($17.4 million) in May 2009, for a tenor of six years. Sukukcarries profit at the rate of KIBOR+1 per cent, being paid semi-annually……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Bloomberg is continuing to expand its Shari’ah-compliant fixed income index universe - a part of its Islamic Finance Platform- with the launch of the Bloomberg Malaysian Foreign Currency Sukuk Index, developed in conjunction with Bank Negara, the Malaysian central bank.
This follows the development of the Bloomberg-AIBIM-Bursa Malaysia Sovereign Shariah Index, which includes Ringgit-denominated Malaysian government sukuk……………………………………….Full Article: Source

When you consider that there are nearly 200 million Muslims in India, it is surprising that one of the world’s fastest growing economies has little or no facilities for them to invest their money in a Sharia-compliant manner.
Indeed, the total size of 100 per cent Islamic funds registered for sale in India was a miniscule $3.1 million (Dh11.4 million) as of March 2011, according to Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kerala, the first Indian state to start an Islamic finance company, is to host a national seminar here on interest-free institutional mechanism for banking, finance and insurance on July 4.
Ministers, senior bureaucrats and policymakers besides experts on the subject from across the country will attend the event. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will open the seminar……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon is launching ‘Sharia Compliant Banking’ to better serve an important segment of its customer base that requires Sharia-compliant financial products based on Islamic principles.
The Bank has announced the appointment of three eminent scholars in Islamic jurisprudence to its Sharia Board, to guide the operations of its new Islamic Banking Unit and to conduct periodic audits to ensure that all transactions conform to the parameters of the Sharia……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Emirates Islamic Bank, or EIB, has signed an agreement with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) to set up a chair in Islamic banking and to provide HCT students with opportunities to develop skills and careers in the growing UAE Islamic banking and finance sectors.
The agreement was signed yesterday by Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and HCT Chancellor and EIB CEO Abdulla Showaiter……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Hot on the heels of launching its Asia-Pacific fund last month, AmIslamic Funds Management, the Shari’ah-compliant investment subsidiary of Malaysia’s AmBank Group, has launched the AmASEAN Equity fund.
The new fund will target medium- to long-term capital growth by investing in a portfolio of equities in the ASEAN markets with specific focus on the markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand, known as the ASEAN 5……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Raja Nazrin Shah, the financial ambassador of the Malaysian International Islamic Financial Centre, has claimed that contemporary Islamic finance was becoming increasingly disconnected from the real economy.
Shah identified three areas requiring improvements that would move the industry closer to Islamic ideals of justice and equity: an increase in level of financial inclusiveness in Muslim countries; the channeling of savings into proactive investments to create businesses and jobs, specially in the SME sector; and an intensification of R&D into financial structures that would positively impact global socio-economic conditions. ………………………………………Full Article: Source

South African Islamic investors and financiers are likely to be recognised via a new insertion in the Income Tax Act, says consultancy firm Grant Thornton SA, enabling the country to attract further foreign investors to its financial markets.
Islamic finance is derived from the Shariah, and essentially involves profit and risk sharing and forbids the paying or receiving of interest or investment in certain industries……………………………………….Full Article: Source

It is not very often that the British Crown has recognized services rendered in the UK Islamic finance industry.
The fact that Richard Thomas, CEO of Gatehouse Bank, was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in the recent Birthday Honours list of Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of the UK Government, in recognition for civic excellence and the contribution that Thomas has made to the UK Islamic financial services industry, shows how far the industry has come. In fact the OBE bestowed on Thomas becomes the first UK royal award for civic excellence in Islamic finance……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The 10th Islamic Finance Access Program (IFAP) on Islamic trade finance (ITF) is scheduled in London on July 6. The one-day training program is part of the IFAP, which aims at bringing the highest quality of Islamic financial intelligence to executives and decision-makers in the industry.
IFAP was developed by Professor Humayon Dar in collaboration with leading practitioners and organizations in the industry with a view to offering expert advice and training to those interested in Islamic finance, with a major focus on conventional institutions offering Islamic financial products……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The volume of calls is intensifying for the creation of a supreme Shari’ah council that will oversee all Islamic finance products in the GCC, with the latest figure to step up to the megaphone stand being the eminent Dr. Hamed Hassan of Dubai Islamic Bank.
No doubt we will see in the coming months more top scholars from the Gulf and a bevy of senior bankers echo the calls made by Hassan and the others in these past few weeks……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The takaful industry is expected to record double-digit growth yearly, said executive vice-president of Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd, Wan Mohd Fadzlullah Wan Abdullah. He said growth of new businesses would spur the growth of the industry.
“The industry is expected to launch an aggressive plan to increase the number of operators and agents. It will also launch campaigns to create an awareness of the importance of takaful as a financial safety net,” he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Local press has reported that Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia is in the process of introducing Takaful and other Islamic financial products.
The state-owned Russian International News Agency, RIA Novosti quoted Kyrgyz deputy PM, Omurbek Babanov, who was speaking at the World Islamic Economic Forum in Astana,………………………………………Full Article: Source

King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has issued a Royal Decree allocating SR476 million a year to the Takaful Charity Foundation set up to support needy pupils in public education schools.
Announcing the order Sunday, Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah, Minister of Education and chairman of Takaful and its Trustees Council, said the backing would enable the charity to launch its work and bring into effect its national strategy for social development……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Alliance Islamic Bank, a subsidiary of Alliance Bank Malaysia, has launched the Alliance Family Takaful Investment-Linked Plan, a savings and investment plan that comes with family Takaful coverage.
According to a statement by Alliance: “This product launch is a collaboration between Alliance Islamic Bank, Takaful Ikhlas and FWU Malaysia, a subsidiary of German-based financial services provider, FWU Group.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

MIGA covers Murabaha Facility for Indonesia telecoms expansion
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group, has provided $450 million in investment guarantees to support the expansion of telecommunications services in Indonesia.
MIGA’s guarantees are backing a $450 million Murabaha financing facility underwritten by Deutsche Bank and Saudi British Bank (SABB)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Nakheel, the real estate arm of debt-laden conglomerate Dubai World has paid AED5bn ($1.36bn) in overdue payments to its trade creditors, the company said Sunday.
The developer, which is seeking to delay some $10.5bn of debt, said last week it had won near-unanimous approval from trade creditors representing 95 percent of the debt……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Executive Council of the Islamic Broadcasting Union (IBU) which held its meeting at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Jeddah on 19 June 2011, adopted the Statute and the Organizational Structure of the Union.
The meeting, which was chaired by Dr. Abdul Aziz Mohieddine Khojah who is the Chairman of the Executive Council of IBU and Minister of Culture and Information of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also discussed appointment of a new Director General for the Union……………………………………….Full Article: Source