Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest bank by assets, will set up a sharia-compliant banking arm, it said in a statement, becoming the latest financial institution to announce plans to operate in the sultanate’s fledgling Islamic finance sector.
Operating under the Meethaq brand name, the bank will function independently from the conventional arm and has appointed a three-member sharia board………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Taking advantage of its late initiation into Islamic banking, Oman will offer a unique model for the sector, which will be a combination of different models available across the world, according to Central Bank of Oman (CBO).
H E Hamood Sangour al Zadjali, executive president of CBO, said that Oman’s Islamic banking model will be a combination of the best available models across the world rather than a copy of any single one………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al-Thani said Monday Islamic banks’ role was growing thus attracting regional and international attention.
Sheikh Abdullah, addressing the 8th International Conference on Islamic Economics and Finance (ICIEF), said QCB realized that the combination between traditional and Islamic banking activities could undermine the free and transparent competition between banks He expressed confidence in the banking role of the local islamic banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

There would be no rollback of the decision that requires traditional banks engaged in Islamic banking to stop the practice by the year-end. This was made clear by the Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al Thani.
The move to prohibit Islamic banking by regular banks has to do, with issues related to the supervision and control mechanisms as well as matters relating to the monetary policy of the country, the QCB governor added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

By the end of 2011, the Qatari market will not have Islamic branches of commercial banks, as a result of the Decision of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) issued in February stipulating the complete closure of Islamic counters.
QCB fixed a deadline for the commercial banks to liquidate their Islamic activities by the end of 2011 and thus, the Islamic banking services will be limited to the Islamic banks alone………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Islam Malaysia is working towards its third initial public offering (IPO), in line with the bank’s efforts to increase its non-fund based income.
According to Managing Director Datuk Seri Zukri Samat, Bank Islam Malaysia completed the listing of two companies on Bursa Malaysia earlier this year and is looking to get further mandates to boost its non-fund based income. “We have submitted the application for the third IPO candidate and are waiting for approvals,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The central bank is currently at an advanced level of development of a comprehensive liquidity management solution for Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) following extensive efforts made both by the industry and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Governor, SBP, Yaseen Anwar has disclosed.
He said that this comprehensive liquidity management solution would include i) development of Islamic interbank money market, ii) development of Islamic Interbank Offered Rate (IIBOR) for use as a benchmark for pricing of Islamic finance products, iii) transformation of a sizeable portion of conventional sovereign debt in the books of central bank into Shariah-compliant debt,……………………………………….Full Article: Source

UAE banks have built up sufficient reserves and boosted their capital base after the 2008 global financial distress and this will enable them to withstand a fresh crisis in the future, the central bank chairman has said.
Khalil Foulathi said stress tests conducted by the International Monetary Fund on the UAE’s 23 national banks and 28 foreign units showed they are highly capitalized and in a “good health.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Al Hilal Bank, a progressive Islamic bank, won as ‘Best Retail Bank (GCC)’ during the 6th edition of the prestigious Islamic Business & Finance Awards held recently in Dubai. This marks the fourth major industry recognition for the bank this year.
Al Hilal Bank won the most number of votes under the ‘Best Retail Bank’ category from readers of the Islamic Business & Finance magazine – the authoritative voice of the global Islamic finance industry with a worldwide circulation spanning all continents (Press Release)

Financial companies are looking for alternative financing in the form of sukuk in Malaysia as the eurozone debt crisis cripples the euro bond issuance. As a result, foreign issuance of sukuk in Malaysia is expected to increase by 25-30 percent next year owing to the global economic crisis.
Sukuk refers to the Islamic equivalent of bonds. Since fixed income and interest bearing bonds are prohibited in Islamic, sukuk securities are structured to comply with Islamic law………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kazakhstan, where Muslims make up over 70 per cent of its 16-million population, has invited Malaysians to invest in the country’s Islamic finance and halal food sectors which are set to thrive.

Manager of National Export and Investment Agency of Kazakhstan (KAZNEX INVEST), Abilkair Bolatbayev, said these sectors offered huge opportunities for Malaysian investors……………………………………….Full Article: Source

What makes an Islamic finance qualification special? And what makes it special enough for the industry’s leaders to award it their most coveted prize? If Ethica’s win this weekend at the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) is anything to go by, then the most critical element for bankers and students is that the qualification have real-world application.
Sameer Hasan, Business Director at Ethica, received the award and said, “People are frustrated with certificates they can’t use: the training is mostly theoretical and the certificates do little to attract recruiters. Ethica’s CIFE graduates get hired in a tough job market because we try to go beyond theory while also helping students land jobs.” (Press Release)