If ever there is an opportunity for the Islamic finance industry to stand up and be counted and to be creative to boot, it is now in Libya’s hour of need.
As the National Transitional Council (TNC) consolidates its position as the legitimate interim government of Libya recognized by the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), albeit a potential final showdown with the diehard remnants of pro-Qaddafi forces in Sirte may still be on the cards, the business and reconstruction opportunities in various parts of the country and sectors of the economy beckoning are sizable……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The $1 trillion Islamic finance industry has faced some challenges with financial distress becoming the norm. Can Islamic financial institutions be any more ethical.
Welcome to another typical Dubai property gain and pain story. A working couple in the pink cold of December 2007 – resembling hordes of others sucked into real estate buying frenzy – pool in their hard-earned savings, all $55,000 of it. The sum constitutes 10 percent of a villa in the upscale Springs Community. A leading Islamic financial institution, neck deep into the local property market, happily fills in the rest……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Some 90 percent of an estimated 88,000 customers of Islamic units of conventional banks have refused to shift their accounts to commercial banks.
Commercial banks, as is known, have been asked by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) to close their Islamic operations by the year-end so their customers must transfer their accounts to other banks before the deadline……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Basically, Islamic banking considers charging interest haram. Instead, investors (or savers) get some sort of dividend. You can view it differently, but that is what comes down, too. In the past our religions declared that interest on a loan was “bad”, the rationale being that you can get rich by doing nothing. But nowadays most religions have a more pragmatic approach.
For example, investing money in a loan to build a school or hospital in return for some interest does help society. Without the loan, it may not be built at all. So why would it be immoral that people who invest their money wisely instead of spending it carelessly receive a reward for it?………………………………………Full Article: Source

The Indian establishment is ever suspect of anything Islamic and if it is to cooperate with the just demands of Indian Muslims with regard to Islamic banking, it will lay down so many caveats that the entire ethos and spirit underlying the concept will be lost and distorted.
We must build up public consensus on what direction we would like the Islamic banking to take in India and should not give up the entire project to the “progressives” who are now in positions of power and will thrust their own version down our throats……………………………………….Full Article: Source

In the absence of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) activities, the Malaysian banking sector appears to have lost its lustre while Thai and Indonesian banks are hogging analysts’ headlines.
“Thai and Indonesian banks are more attractive from the perspective of investment recovery and overall macro growth, respectively,” said Lim Sue Lin, senior banking analyst at HwangDBS Vickers Research. As for Malaysian banks, she noted that apart from the lack of M&As that had fuelled interest lately, there was not much upside to earnings growth………………………………………Full Article: Source

Since issuing a decree to establish an Islamic financial services sector in May, Oman has seen a flurry of activity as banks have started gearing up to move into the new market.
As well as the establishment of new Islamic banks, the sector is also seeing an upsurge of sharia-compliant services at convention institutions as well as movements in other financial services to offer Islamic products, Global Arab Network reports according to Oxford Business Group……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From being off the Islamic banking radar earlier this year, Oman has now approved Islamic banking licenses for two banks, with a few more on the cards especially to one or two Islamic banking majors in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
The latest approval is the go-ahead given in late August to the promoters of Al-Izz International Bank to set up an Islamic bank instead of a conventional bank, for which approval was originally given by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) in September last year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

While Islamic banking is evolving and maturing elsewhere in the Muslim world, it is preparing to take its first steps in Oman, the only GCC state that without a sharia-compliant banking sector.
That should change in 2012, as a new legal framework regulating the industry - estimated by PwC to be worth $1,000bn globally and to be growing by 15-20 per cent per year - is introduced under the orders of Oman’s ruler, Sultan Qaboos……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Indonesia plans to sell dollar-denominated Islamic bonds by the end of December, the second sale of the securities in two years, and it is looking to Persian Gulf investors to purchase the debt.
“We are targeting Middle East investors to buy our global [Islamic bonds],” said Rahmat Waluyanto, director general of the debt management office at the Ministry of Finance, in a text message to the Jakarta Globe………………………………………Full Article: Source

It is as if Saudi corporates are queuing up to heed the advice of Muhammed Al-Jasser, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) on the need for greater sukuk origination in the Kingdom given in a lecture at Oxford University earlier this year.
“Sukuk,” explained the governor, “have a very great potential in the Saudi and Gulf market……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Pakistan’s Meezan Bank has completed the country’s first short-term Sukuk deal. The PKR1.5bn ($17.3m) Sukuk, issued by Pakistan’s largest power company KAPCO (Kot Addu Power Company Ltd) is a six month Musharakah and a Shari’ah compliant alternative to conventional short-term paper.
The issue will create much-needed liquidity for the Islamic finance industry and was well received by the local mutual funds sector with the issue oversubscribed by 50%………………………………………Full Article: Source

From farm to fork, Halal is simply the better meat and its major health and business benefits help growth in the market, according to industry specialists.
The worldwide Halal food industry is estimated to be over $650 billion, and this segment currently accounts for approximately 16 per cent of the global food market……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Nakheel, the Dubai developer seeking to restructure AED59bn ($16.1bn) of liabilities, said it had slashed the value of “exaggerated” contractor claims against it by 75 percent.
The firm, which overstretched itself building islands in the shape of palms and other ambitious projects, said negotiations had seen the value of trade debts fall by more than two thirds……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Global Trust Bank of Nigeria has said it is considering introducing ‘Shari’ah banking’ in Uganda, which will further enhance the Islamic finance options open to Ugandans only a few months after the country’s Central Bank authorized Islamic banking.
Uganda’s Islamic banking sector is attracting numerous foreign suitors with firms from Kenya, South Africa and Abu Dhabi all planning on setting up shop in the country……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House reported a second quarter net loss of $11.23 million due to higher finance expenses and the impact of exchange rates, the company said in a statement. The loss narrowed from the same quarter a year earlier, when the company posted a net loss of $40.2 million.
The Islamic investment house swung to a profit of $700,000 in the first half of the year, compared to a loss of $47.6 million in the same period last year. Total income for H1 climbed 27 per cent to $32.8 million, driven by asset sales and the settlement of liabilities……………………………………….Full Article: Source