The market share of Malaysia’s Islamic banking assets of the total banking industry is expected to increase, probably to 25 per cent next year from the 22 per cent recorded in 2011, said Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM) chairman Datuk Seri Zukri Samat.
“We hope our Islamic banking assets will grow to a higher level from 22 per cent (this year) to probably 25 per cent (next year),” he said on the sidelines of the launch of the institute’s Islamic Finance Qualifications Framework and Progression Route (IFQFPR), the country’s first ever innovation in Islamic finance talent development here Wednesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic financial institutions are underprepared for potential risk and vulnerable to liquidity shocks, a senior CBB official has warned.
According to Central Bank of Bahrain Executive Director of Banking Supervision Khalid Hamad, it’s imperative that more attention be given to risk management by Islamic financial entities as they face the same credit risk, market risk, operational risk, legal risk and liquidity risk as conventional banks, yet are far less sophisticated in their risk management procedures………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Republic of Iran was the first country to introduce Sukuk to the financial market, an economic expert said. Mohammad Sajjad Siahkarzadeh noted that while it is said that Malaysia was the first country to issue Sukuk in 1997, the Navab Expressway project in Tehran had been carried out in the same year using Sukuk bonds.
He said Iran devised the operational mechanisms for issuing Sukuks in 1994 and introduced the mechanisms in the second Islamic Banking conference in Tehran in that year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

PLUS Bhd, the company taking over Malaysian highway operations of PLUS Expressways Bhd, set indicative pricing to sell RM23.4 billion (US$7.3 billion) Islamic bonds, according to a note sent to investors.
The company is inviting orders for RM11.3 billion of the syariah-compliant notes with tenors ranging from five to 19 years to yield between 3.8 per cent and 5.07 per cent, the document said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Amanah Saham Mara Investment Services Bhd (ASM Investment) is aiming to transform all its conventional funds into syariah based funds by end 2013.Its Chief Executive Officer, Nik Mohamed Zaki Nik Yusof said the move is to position ASM Investment as a fully syariah based fund and asset management company.
“We have seven conventional funds now, and if we are to change them to syariah based, there are many processes to go through including getting the approval of the trust unit shareholders and the Securities Commission. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Public Mutual, Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with 91 funds under management, is launching a new Islamic fund, Public Islamic Savings Fund.
“As the fund focuses its investments mainly in the domestic market, it offers investors an opportunity to capitalise on Malaysia’s resilient economic growth prospects in the medium to long-term,” said its chief executive officer Yeoh Kim Hong………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The current global economic crisis will have no significant impact on Indonesia’s sharia banking industry, says Bank Indonesia (BI). “The global economy will not disrupt the sharia bank industry,” BI deputy governor Halim Alamsyah said Wednesday, as quoted by tempo.co.
Sharia banks, he explained, focused their funding mostly on national businesses and therefore would not suffer any direct consequences of either the debt crisis in the eurozone or the recession in the United States………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Do you recognise the headline? I imagine many will. “Let’s bank the Muslim way?” was a slogan that appeared on a protestor’s placard last month. The image has appeared in many places on the internet and in print around the world.
The ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement started outside the New York Stock Exchange, spread to cities across the US and indeed to financial centres elsewhere, notably the City of London. The movement started as a modest protest in New York’s financial district by demonstrators opposed to the apparent greed of bankers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, a top-tier Islamic financial services institution, announced today that it is on track to migrate all of its Visa Covered and Debit cards to the new generation Chip & PIN cards, in line with the recent Central Bank mandate.
Also known as EMV chip-based payment cards, this new technology contains an embedded microchip in addition to the magnetic stripe which offers cardholders additional security features when compared to existing cards. (Press Release)

Bank Sarasin-Alpen won the Best Islamic Wealth Manager award at the Islamic Business and Finance Awards 2011 organized by CPI Financial, publisher of Islamic Business and Finance magazine. Rohit Walia, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of Bank Sarasin-Alpen Group and Mahboob Murshed, Managing Director accepted the award at a ceremony held at the Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai on 13th December, 2011.
Bank Sarasin-Alpen is a subsidiary of Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd, Switzerland - an organization which has been known for Sustainable Swiss private banking since 1841. The Sarasin Group is incorporated in the GCC as Sarasin-Alpen. (Press Release)

A debate was held, on Wednesday in Tunis, by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the prospects of Islamic financing and its development in the North African region.
Amen Bank CEO Ahmed Karam said that introducing Islamic financing in Tunisia would complete the existing financial and banking landscape and contribute to the revival of economic growth; it would also encourage saving and attract foreign Islamic investment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has completed a $10.4 billion financing of its Barzan gas project even though a difficult economic climate has put a freeze on global syndicated lending. The financing includes a commercial bank facility of $3.34bn, a $850-million Islamic facility and $2.55bn of export credit agency financing.
The project will be funded with up to 30 per cent equity and the remainder through a syndicated loan expected to total $7.2bn, the company said………………………………………..Full Article: Source