Bermuda is nurturing its worldwide presence as an Islamic financial hub. Business Bermuda stressed the island’s commitment to expanding its Islamic Finance sector at the inaugural Islamic Financial News European Forum in London.
Peter Hughes, Apex Fund Services group director, spoke on the island’s leading role in the growth of the Islamic finance industry: “Bermuda is in an excellent position to support firms seeking to invest in Shariah compliant products, especially since regulations and laws form the foundation of our world-class financial services industry, making Bermuda well regulated, transparent and fully compliant……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Osaro Eghobamien, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), at the weekend chided critics of the non-interest banking framework (Islamic banking), insisting that their objections result more from a lack of understanding of what the banking product is really about.
Eghobamien, noted that Islamic banking “is just a process by which the bank participates in the profits that is made, and that is how the bank makes its profit.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

Through its creative use of language, the bank will lay claim to interest-free handling commission, fee, profit or mark-up, yet, to the conventional interest-based bank, such a cost-plus transaction (murabahah) looks just like a loan at 10 per cent compound interest.
In this respect, can we not remember that profit maximisation is the objective of any financier? Were it to be the case that the cost, benefits, and terms and conditions to lenders in Islamic banking are totally different from the conventional banking system, banking companies in the West would not have opened up Islamic windows in the first instance……………………………………….Full Article: Source

There is nothing controversial in non-interest banking otherwise known as Islamic banking because Christianity and Islam abhor usury or interest banking, former Managing Director of Unity Bank Plc, Alhaji Falalu Bello has said.
Fielding questions from newsmen shortly after attending a reception in honour of the newly appointed Executive Director of Unity Bank, Mr. Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed, Falalu who backed his arguments with quotations from both Quran and the Bible, said the noise trailing the proposed Islamic banking system was unnecessary………………………………………Full Article: Source

I have been following arguments, both for and against, the introduction of non-interest banking, into Nigeria. There seem to be one thread that runs in all the arguments so far. Every commentator is agreed on the need for non-interest banking to compliment the country ’s banking system which the banking public suspect of excessive charges, hidden and open.
The only dissent I have read in most of the commentaries is on the use of the word Islam……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Citing the success stories of Islamic finance in infrastructure development the world over, the Director General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Engineer Mansur Ahmed has called for a regulatory framework that could facilitate such successes in Nigeria.
“The critical imperatives for the successful issuance of Islamic bonds (otherwise known as Sukuk) in Nigeria will include the right regulatory and taxation framework, transparent transaction structure, credit rating, marketing, risk and mitigation measures, appropriate technical capacity and guarantees,” he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has selected the consortium of companies Salans, KPMG, Pinsent Masons and Dar al Shariah as a consultant to create a specialized structure to provide products and services of Islamic banking, the bank reported on Tuesday.
The tender committee considered the proposals of four contenders: local Ekvita Company, which acted in cooperation with the Islamic Finance Advisory Assurance Services; Ernst & Young in cooperation with Baker McKenzie; PricewaterhouseCoopers and a consortium consisting of Salans, Pinsent Masons, KPMG and Dar Al Shariah……………………………………….Full Article: Source

First Gulf Bank (FGB), UAE’s second largest lender by market value, posted a 13 percent rise in second quarter net profit, beating analysts’ forecasts, helped by a rise in net interest income.
The lender, majority owned by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, made a net profit of 890 million dirhams ($242.5 million) for the three month period ending June 30, compared with 787 million dirhams in the prior-year period……………………………………….Full Article: Source

At least eight investors, including five foreign ones, have expressed their interest in purchasing 50 percent shares of Bank Muamalat, a major sharia bank in Indonesia.
Bank Indonesia deputy director for sharia banking Mulya Siregar said the interested investors included local-based Para Group, which belongs to business tycoon Chairul Tanjung; Saratoga Investama Sedaya, headed by noted businessman Sandiaga Uno; and the country’s largest lender by assets, Bank Mandiri……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Tamweel PJSC, the UAE Islamic home finance provider, announced today the expansion of its Home Finance product suite with the launch of two new products. The Non-residents Programme will make home finance available to select overseas investors looking to purchase residential property in the UAE.
Tamweel’s Home Refinance Program for fully paid properties is designed to help owners unlock the value in their homes……………………………………….Full Article: Source

UAE-headquartered Takaful Emarat, a Shariah compliant life and health insurance company, has announced their partnership with NCB Capital, Saudi Arabia’s largest investment bank and the GCC’s leading wealth manager, to make world class Shariah-compliant funds accessible to its customers.
As part of the alliance, Takaful Emarat will offer its customers a range of twenty one Shariah-compliant funds managed by NCB Capital. (Press Release)

Serial issuer Cagamas printed M$1bn (US$330.3m) of Islamic bonds on July 11 after an absence of more than four months. The sukuk was in three maturities of one to three years and most investors took up the longest tenor in yet another reflection of the chase for yields……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Waqf Fund, a Bahrain-based special fund to support Islamic finance training, has launched a Diploma in Islamic Commercial Jurisprudence. The qualification is aimed primarily at those working for Internal Sharia Review departments of Islamic financial institutions.
The programme, due to commence from October, is being offered with the assistance of Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance ( BIBF)……………………………………….Full Article: Source