Shariah scholars and Islamic finance practitioners are bullish on the prospect of the global sukuk market next year, estimating an increase of between 10-30 per cent in the value of issuance, despite the gloomy economic outlook due to the eurozone financial crisis.
Syariah scholar Dr Mohd Bakar Daud forecast between 10-15 per cent increase in the value of total global sukuk issuance for 2012 from about US$79 billion he expected to be issued this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Asia and Saudi Arabia are inevitably set to dominate the sukuk market in 2012 with high quality quasi-sovereign issuers taking the lead, especially to fund infrastructure and projects in the oil, gas, petrochemicals and transport sectors.
“The outlook for 2012 appears bright,” explained an experienced Islamic banker to Arab News on the condition that he remains anonymous. “The ringgit-denominated sukuk market will continue to dominate with several mega issuances to fund infrastructure development activities and programs. The total sukuk issuance for 2012 is expected to hover between RM50 billion to RM60 billion, which would account for 70 percent of global sukuk issuances for 2012………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Companies and governments in the Gulf sold Islamic bonds this year at the fastest clip since 2007, underscoring a trend where borrowers are seeing more appetite for their debt among regional investors in the wake of the sovereign-debt crisis sweeping Europe.
Sales of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, by Gulf issuers reached US$7.3 billion (Dh26.81bn) this year, according to Bloomberg News data. That was 62 per cent higher than last year and the largest amount of Islamic debt on offer in four years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

While there are clouds of uncertainty looming over the global economy, the Malaysian bond market is expected to remain bullish next year, fuelled by the expected implementation of infrastructure projects.
Analysts and observers feel the growth momentum of the sukuk and debt market would continue next year barring any unforeseen shocks stemming from the United States and eurozone debt crisis………………………………………..Full Article: Source

An advisor to Goldman Sachs has defended the U.S. bank’s $2 billion Islamic bond programme against criticism it may contravene religious principles, in a controversy that could affect Western banks’ ability to enter the Islamic debt market.
In October, Goldman registered the sukuk programme with the Irish Stock Exchange. It set up a Cayman Islands-registered special purpose vehicle, Global Sukuk Co Ltd, to issue a sukuk based on murabaha, a cost-plus-profit arrangement which complies with Islamic law………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Goldman Sachs’ maiden foray into capital-raising utilising sharia-compliant mechanisms has understandably generated a lot of interest. However, as in the case of some other conventional banks before it, the market reception in certain quarters has been somewhat sceptical, mainly due to the misunderstanding surrounding the nature of the sukuk structure adopted and how this relates to Goldman Sachs’ operations.
This article seeks to address some of the information gaps in the marketplace which seem to have contributed to such misunderstandings………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Autoriti Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) has announced the successful pricing of $100 million worth of sukuk or Islamic bonds. The latest issuance brings to over $3.651 billion the total sukuk issued by the Brunei Government since the Sukuk Al-Ijazah programme began in April 2006. AMBD is the managing and administering agent for Sukuk Al-Ijarah issuances.
In a statement released yesterday, AMBD announced the successful pricing of the 68th issuance of the Sukuk Al-Ijarah Securities, which will carry a maturity of 91 days ending on March 8 next year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) said that the monthly issue of the Sukuk Al Salam Islamic securities for the BD18 million (BD47.7 million) issue, which carries a maturity of 91 days, has been subscribed by 183 per cent.
The expected return on the issue, which begins tomorrow and matures on 28 March 2012, is 1.25 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Despite the global financial crisis, Islamic banking and finance is expected to continue expanding next year, with Malaysia-based players ready to lead the pack regionally and internationally.
The flaws in conventional finance have created great interest in the Islamic financial model, and this provides the basis for the industry to sustain a period of strong growth for the rest of this decade………………………………………..Full Article: Source

According to Presidential website, the President while addressing the 51st Annual CBI meeting that the CBI should support the government’s macro economic projects, including taxation, customs and subsidy reforms.
He said the CBI and other banks should cooperate with the Ministry of Economy and Financial Affairs in fully implementing the government’s economic projects to serve masses and promote their welfare. He added that all CBI policies and measures should bring about public tranquility and peace………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Libyan central bank may finalise Islamic finance regulations by March, in what would be the first major step towards introducing sharia-compliant banking in the country.
The bank’s deputy governor, Ali Mohammed Salem, also told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday the exchange rate of the Libyan dinar would be fixed for up to three years, pegged to the IMF’s special drawing right currency basket………………………………………..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

The central bank has decided to form a separate fund market for the Sharia-based banks, financial institutions and the Islami banking branches of scheduled banks. A Bangladesh Bank circular on Tuesday said that Sharia-based banks will be able to conduct transactions in the Islamic Interbank Fund Market (IIFM).
Under the arrangement, IIBF will act as a custodian of the banks’ excess liquidity, which they will be able to hand over on a daily basis. All transactions will be based on Mudaraba………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The furore about Islamic banking led me to conduct researches on the topic, and to also rely on various articles and reports in the Nigerian press.
In Saudi Arabia and the other countries of the Middle East, even Malaysia, the country with the largest Muslim population, the regular kind of banking is king. And the Muslim billionaires of the oil rich Middle East all invest for profit (riba) in regular banks, even in the West………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank will acquire the sharia-compliant corporate portfolio of International Bank of Qatar(IBQ), the Islamic lender said.
The agreement will see IBQ’s Islamic corporate financing facilities and its deposit accounts transferred to Qatar’s largest sharia-compliant bank by assets, according to a statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) - the largest Islamic bank in Qatar and one of the top-five Sharia’-compliant banks in the world -has announced its participation in the current biggest financing operation in the energy sector carried out by Qatar Petroleum, by offering $500m to finance the Barzan Gas project through Istisna/Ijara instrument.
The amount committed by QIB through the Sharia’-compliant ‘Istisna/Ijara’ investment vehicle constitutes the largest ticket of the Islamic financing tranche in the project, which amounted to an overall total of $850m. (Press Release)

ADCB Islamic Banking was named the “Most Improved Islamic Bank in the UAE” by the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) committee at a recent ceremony in Muscat. Keynote speaker Abdullah Badawi, former prime minister of Malaysia at the Oman Islamic Economic Forum (OIEF), presented the award to ADCB Islamic Banking.
Amr Al-Menhali, head of ADCB Islamic Banking, said the award recognizes the ADCB’s leading position and its success in raising the benchmark for Islamic banking in the region………………………………………..Full Article: Source

KPMG, a leading international firm offering audit, tax, and advisory services recently organised a training at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Muscat on Islamic finance products and their accounting treatment under IFRS.
This training was organised by KPMG for its clients and members of professional staff. The objective of the training was to educate participants about the characteristics of various Sharia compliant financial products and how to deal with their accounting issues under IFRS and under standards issued by association of auditing and accounting standards of Islamic financial institutions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

At first glance there is no direct mention of the role of Islamic banking and finance in the Kingdom’s economy in the 2012 Saudi national budget announced last week in Riyadh.
But reading between the lines and judging by some of the initiatives launched by various agencies, banks and corporates in the Kingdom leading up to the budget announcement, it is clear that the Islamic finance industry is expected to contribute its fair share in crucial areas such as the financing of small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) primarily to generate employment especially for the youth……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Al Bayan Centre for Islamic Financial Engineering is to organize the 4th session of the Khartoum Forum on Islamic Financial Products next April. The forum is to be held in collaboration with the Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), Khartoum Stocks Exchange and Basant International Institution.
For his part, the General Coordinator of the Forum, Ayman Yasin El-Imam, told SUNA that the session will be held under the theme “Obstacle Facing Islamic Finance”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

As new market participants enter the scene, Shariah banking continues to grow despite the threat of a global recession. But is the industry also progressing in terms of unity and transparency?
When bankers from East and West gathered in Manama at the 18th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference in November 2011, one topic was prevalent at nearly all discussion rounds: standardization………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Omani consumers have expressed a strong appetite for Islamic finance with a rapid take-up of banking products expected within the first 12 months of being launched.
These are key findings published yesterday from Oman’s first independent market study, entitled ‘Islamic Finance in Oman – Sizing the retail market’………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Omani consumers have expressed a strong appetite for Islamic Finance with a rapid take-up of banking products expected within the first 12 months of being launched. These are key findings published from Oman’s first independent market study, entitled ‘Islamic Finance in Oman - Sizing the retail market’.
The report was independently commissioned and published by IFAAS (Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services), the international Islamic Finance consultancy. ‘Islamic Finance in Oman - Sizing the retail market’, analyses the retail market for Islamic Finance in Oman across all sectors of the financial market, including banking, finance and insurance. (Press Release)