Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is aiming to follow HSBC Holdings Plc and General Electric Co. to the Islamic bond market as the investment bank seeks to diversify sources of funding.

Global sales of sukuk, or Islamic bonds, have jumped 48 percent so far this year to $18.8 billion from $12.7 billion in the year-earlier period, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Goldman Sachs’ $2 billion Islamic bond program was approved for listing on the Irish Stock Exchange by the Central Bank of Ireland last week………………………………………Full Article: Source

The ongoing unrest in North Africa and the Middle East have directed many investors from Gulf countries to Turkey. The newcomers include many Islamic bankers, says to top executive of Dubai-based Noor.
Turkey has attracted significant investments from Gulf countries as well as Islamic bankers due to the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the top executive of the Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank………………………………………Full Article: Source

Islamic finance is continuing to go from strength to strength and in the near future the industry is likely to see a period of consolidation, said a top banking expert.

‘Mergers within the industry will make it more efficient through economies of scale but it will also allow the industry to finance the kind of mega projects sometimes outside its scale at present,’ remarked Dr Mohammed Nedal Alchaar, the secretary-general of Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI)………………………………………Full Article: Source

Regional governments need to issue more sukuk in order to provide short-term liquidity instruments that Islamic finance needs. That was the claim by Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain) managing director and chief executive officer Abdulhakeem Alkhayyat on the sidelines of the AAOFI conference.

The Islamic finance industry desperately needs more short-term liquidity but we cannot look to the private sector to provide this in the region,” he said………………………………………Full Article: Source

The issue of the Islamic bond (sukuk) market and its role in providing short-term liquidity to the Islamic finance industry dominated the first day of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) conference.

The event at the Crowne Plaza is being held in partnership with the World Bank and under the auspices of Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). “The principle of risk sharing is at the core of the Islamic financial industry,” said CBB Governor Rasheed Al Maraj………………………………………Full Article: Source

Dubai’s Majid Al-Futtaim may issue a planned sukuk program as early as next month and is pushing ahead with growth plans in Egypt despite operations being severely hit by months of unrest, its chief executive said on Monday.

The mall developer, which is the sole franchisee for hypermarket chain Carrefour in the Gulf, was forced to shut down its malls and hypermarkets in Egypt due to riots following an uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak. The company is now racing ahead with plans to grow in Egypt as it seeks financing for a new mall………………………………………Full Article: Source

Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf has said that the Kingdom will not need to tap into its reserves this year to finance additional budget spending. However, he said Saudi Arabia is considering whether to issue Islamic or conventional bonds to help fund specific projects.

He pointed out that robust oil prices had helped to fill state coffers. “We have higher expenditure than projected, but we have higher revenues than projected,” Reuters quoted Al-Assaf as saying in Abu Dhabi………………………………………Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia will not need to tap into its reserves this year to finance additional budget spending but it is considering whether to issue Islamic or conventional bonds to help fund specific projects, the country’s Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf told Reuters.

Responding to a wave of social unrest across the region, the world’s top oil exporter pledged early this year to spend an estimated $130 billion, or nearly 30 percent of its economic output, on housing and other social measures for its citizens over an unspecified period………………………………………Full Article: Source

Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd has been granted by the High Court a Vesting Order transferring the entire business including all assets and liabilities of EONCAP Islamic Bank Bhd to the former with effect from Nov 1, 2011.

Following the vesting, EONCAP Islamic Bank Bhd will become a dormant company. “With the granting of the Vesting Order by the High Court, we are now one step closer towards celebrating Malaysia’s first vesting of an Islamic Bank,” said Hong Leong Bank group managing director Yvonne Chia in a statement here Monday………………………………………Full Article: Source

Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Limited (DIBPL) will open 25 new branches in various cities of Pakistan by next year.

President and CEO DIBPL Junaid Ahmed told APP, that since starting operation in Pakistan in 2006, the bank has 72 branches and were planning to open 25 more branches within a period of one year………………………………………Full Article: Source

Halim Alamsyah, a Bank Indonesia deputy governor, told a seminar on Sunday that the country’s Shariah banking industry grew by an average of 36.3 percent from 2000 to 2010, from Rp 100 trillion ($11.3 billion) to Rp 1.79 trillion.

Halim was speaking in Dubai, where the Indonesian Consulate General brought together more than 130 participants, including banking officials from both countries, to discuss Shariah finance………………………………………Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia is the largest economy and banking market in the Arab world, with almost 40 per cent of all deposits in interest free Shariah-compliant savings products and an embryonic, high growth mortgage, takaful (Islamic insurance), consumer credit and leasing industries.

Despite the $24 billion Al Gosaibi-Saad Group debt debacle, Saudi banking is the least leveraged in the GCC, with loans/deposit ratios rarely in excess of 80 per cent and a conservative, best in regional breed regulator in SAMA………………………………………Full Article: Source

The first Oman Islamic Economic Forum 2011 (OIEF) will be held at the Al Bustan Ritz Carlton Muscat Hotel on December 17 and 18. Organised by Amjaad Development, the event will be the first international conference of its kind in the Sultanate.

The OIEF will bring together leading practitioners, prominent heads of state and opinion-making academicians and introduce best practices in Islamic finance to Omani authorities and other relevant players, while discussing key issues in Islamic finance. The conclave will also provide an opportunity for interested foreign stakeholders to network with key Omani players and establish long lasting relationships………………………………………Full Article: Source

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) announced the launch of its Advanced Diploma in Islamic Finance for finance and banking professionals in the UAE.

The CIMA Advanced Diploma in Islamic Finance (CADIF) is the first qualification of its kind to be offered by an international professional accountancy body, and marks a major step forward for the Islamic finance industry, which has its roots in the Middle East………………………………………Full Article: Source