Malaysia’s stock exchange operator aims to double the daily average trades on its murabaha platform from RM1 billion (US$313 million) next year as it expands its Islamic finance products in overseas markets, a company official said.
The operator’s Suq Al-Sila’ tawarruq platform enables Islamic banks to manage their liquidity through the sale and purchase of commodities, which the industry hopes will address the lack of widely accepted syariah liquidity management tools……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A Muslim wealth manager has begun the process of opening Australia to Islamic investment with the launch of the first local sharia-compliant equity fund.
The goal of Crescent Wealth, Australia’s only Islamic wealth manager, is to establish a range of investment products, including superannuation, to give Australians access to the previously untapped $1.4 trillion Islamic investment market……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Omani companies will soon be allowed to issue sukuk to raise funds in the local market. The country’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) is preparing the necessary regulations to facilitate the issuance of corporate sukuk, Muscat Daily reported Tuesday.
Yahya bin Said Al Jabri, executive president of CMA, said CMA is preparing the ground for takaful and sukuk products and have sent teams to Malaysia and Bahrain to study how the markets for Islamic products work……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Oman’s corporate sector is expected to come out with sukuk or Islamic bond issues to meet their funding requirements, once the market watchdog Capital Market Authority (CMA) issues regulations.
Sukuks, which are Sharia-compliant debt instruments backed by assets, are popular instruments for mopping up funds from the market in the Gulf region……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Minister of Finance Inc’s unit Pembinaan BLT Sdn Bhd (PBLT) will issue its second series of RM1 billion sukuk this month, which is part of the overall 25-year plan to raise RM10 billion to build police quarters and facilities under the “build, lease and transfer” model nationwide..
PBLT said on Wednesday, Oct 5 the fund-raising plan was part of the 25-year Islamic medium term notes programme of RM10 billion to be raised by its unit, Aman Sukuk Bhd……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Islamic Bank of Thailand is awaiting clarification from government regulators on tax breaks for Shariah-compliant bonds before proceeding with the country’s first sale of baht-denominated sukuk.
“We need to know if the tax exemptions cover both land and properties,” Dheerasak Suwannayos, president of the state-owned Islamic Bank, said in an interview today in Bangkok. “We have been told by the Securities Exchange Commission that they will get back to us in a month.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

Sukuk market proved resilient in the face of the crisis, with funds raised through sukuk issues grew from $2.8 billion in 2001 to $53.2 billion in 2010 and even during the tumultuous period of 2008-2009 funds raised from sukuk increased significantly, NCB Chief Economist Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine said.
“Sukuk are also emerging as a new asset class for investors, since asset-backed/based instruments provide relative capital protection and predictable returns to investors, while In addition, a near-absence of long term financing tools and a growing importance of long term capital projects launched in the region have also increased the attractiveness of sukuk,” he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic pension funds could move from being a “hygiene factor” to a mainstream option as auto-enrolment changes the pensions landscape, HSBC Global Asset Management argues.
The firm’s Amanah fund was selected by the National Employment Savings Trust to provide its Shariah option this year where it will be one of six investment choices………………………………………Full Article: Source

The US subsidiary of UK investment manager Grosvenor is to create a $600m (€450m) fund targeting US healthcare assets for the Kuwait Finance House (KFH), an AUM $37bn Islamic bank that manages real estate assets for the Kuwait Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund.
Grosvenor’s US subsidiary will create the segregated account based on assets it already owns in line with KFH’s real estate investment strategy to “target profitable real estate in major markets”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Church of Scotland inspired current Islamic Banking - An Islamic Finance Council (IFC) Executive Board member in the United Kingdom (UK), Omar Shaikh, has disclosed that the Church of Scotland actually inspired the current Islamic Banking system.
Speaking while presenting a paper titled, “Development of Islamic finance in the UK:Sharing experiences with the Central Bank of Nigeria” the IFC Executive Board member said that the person who set up the first contemporary Islamic Bank in Egyp,was inspired by the Rev Henry Duncan founded Trustee Savings Bank (TSB)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

HE Mohammed Abdullah, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has opened the bank’s Priority Banking Centre on Sheikh Zayed the First Street (Electra Road) in the downtown area of the UAE’s capital city of Abu Dhabi. The opening, which took place recently, brought the number of priority banking branches to three, with the other two being located in Shrajah - one at the bank’s headquarters and one at the Buhaira Corniche branch.
It was attended by SIB Head of Corporate Banking Group, Rahma Al Shamsi; Head of Retail Banking Group, Jassem Al Baloushi; Head of Wealth Management, Abdullah Al Owais; and Head of Priority Banking, Nidal Hamoud; as well as a number of directors and bank officials. (Press Release)

BankMuscat, the leading financial services provider in the Sultanate, hosted a seminar on Islamic banking which helped raise awareness on its fundamentals among the banking community.
Shaikh Ibrahim al Sawafi and Shaikh Azan al Amri, researchers at Ifta’a office, Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, addressed the seminar and discussed on customer benefits derived from Islamic banking. Dignitaries present on the occasion included Abdullah bin Salem bin Abdullah al Salmi, Executive Vice-President of the Capital Market Authority (CMA)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islam is author Eren Erdem’s field of interest. In his opinion, the economic-political stance of the Koran is close to socialism. Erdem has already published six books. His latest work “Nurjuvazi” (’The ones who wear their religious robes the other way around’) was introduced to the market with 10,000 copies in June 2011 and depicts the concept of “nurjuvazi”. E
ren is commenting the bourgeois class and their role of religious identity by referring to the verses of the Koran and the deeds and sayings of Prophet Muhammad……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Gulf Arab state’s largest lender, reported a jump in quarterly profit on Wednesday, as it increased lending in Qatar’s booming economy.
The bank’s third-quarter net profit rose 27 percent to QR1.9bn ($521m), according to Reuters calculations. QNB reported a nine-month net profit of QR5.4bn for the period ended Sept 30. It did not provide figures for the third quarter……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Africa is home to more than 412 million Muslims, and multinational banks and finance organisations are starting to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the African Islamic Finance market. Over the last decade, global Sharia- (Islamic Law) compliant assets have grown at approximately 15 percent per year and Sharia assets have reached the $600 billion mark.
Even though Islamic Finance has been around for 50 years, more than half of Africa’s Muslim population is still unbanked. The growth potential in Africa is phenomenal because Islamic Finance is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing sectors in the world……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic finance practitioners should explore joint ventures and synergistic collaboration with established global brands in private equity and asset management industries, says Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.
He added this would be the most efficient way to move forward as local players had significant value proposition to make such alliances attractive to their foreign counterparts……………………………………….Full Article: Source

With market preferences increasingly shifting towards Shari’ah-compliant banking and finance, more and more businesses are looking to include Islamic finance as a key component of their funding mix.
Though Islamic retail banking, Takaful and Sukuk have traditionally been the main industry growth drivers, analysts are becoming more convinced that Islamic corporate finance, which includes syndicated lending, trade finance, and project finance, could be poised to be a powerful new growth driver for the global Islamic finance industry - and meet the pent up demand of corporate borrowers for expanding the role of Islamic finance in their funding mix. (Press Release)

Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd (KFH Malaysia), the first foreign Islamic Bank in Malaysia, bagged the “Most Outstanding Islamic Consumer Product” award for its KFH Gold Account-i at the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum (KLIFF) Awards 2011.
The KLIFF awards honour and recognise significant efforts by individuals and institutions in the Islamic finance industry……………………………………….Full Article: Source

MAA Takaful once again received accolade at the 8th Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum (KLIFF) held in Kuala Lumpur on the 4th October 2011. MAA Takaful won the award in the category of ‘The Most Outstanding Takaful Product’ for its MAA Takafulink product for the third consecutive year.
“This achievement has proven that MAA Takafulink is well-received and suits the needs and requirements of all Malaysians. MAA Takafulink was designed to fulfill the hopes and dreams of every Malaysian so that they can lead a financially secure life. (Press Release)