Establishing a corporation in 2010 to create and issue short-term Shariah-compliant financial instruments to improve cross-border Islamic liquidity management was a great idea. And it still is – despite the group not conducting a single issue or releasing any press statements.
Many in the Islamic finance community found an opportunity in the global financial crisis to boast or at least be a little smug. The problems in the western banking system were a vindication of Islamic finance, practitioners would say: no Islamic bank, anchored on tangible assets, could have got messed up with CDOs and other derivatives. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), the multilateral development bank of the ten member states of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), on Monday announced it has successfully closed a three-year 2.5 billion-riyal ($667 million) syndicated Sharia-compliant facility from four leading Saudi Arabian banks on competitive market terms.
The facility, which is Apicorp’s debut syndicated Sharia-compliant financing, is aimed at retaining and increasing its medium term funding. The government of UAE has a 17 per cent stake in Apicorp………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Islam, the second largest sharia bank in Malaysia, is in early talks to buy a stake in PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia. Middle Eastern financial institutions such as Islamic Development Bank, Boubyan Bank Kuwait and a Saudi investment holding firm Sedco own 75 per muacent of Bank Muamalat and are looking to sell down their holdings.
Indonesia’s central bank was keen to see an Islamic bank take up a stake in Bank Muamalat — the country’s oldest Islamic bank……………………………………….Full Article: Source

AmIslamic Funds Management offers AmIslamic Fixed Income Conservative, an Islamic bond fund which provides capital appreciation over the short-to-medium term.
The company said the fund would be invested in a portfolio comprising fixed- income instruments that complied with shariah principles………………………………………..Full Article: Source

AmIslamic Funds Management (AIFM) recently launched the AmIslamic Fixed Income Conservative with the objective of providing capital appreciation over the short-to-medium term.
The bond fund would, which would invest in a portfolio of fixed income instruments that complied with Shariah principles, would provide capital preservation and potentially higher returns than fixed deposits………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Analysts were particularly sceptical of the fate of Dana Gas’ sukuk, scheduled to mature in October of this year, after the results press release was issued with no reference to the sukuk payments following promises the CEO made to provide a detailed update with the announcement.
There was also no public follow-up to the results story – no media interviews, analyst call or subsequent news release………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) has achieved grandmaster-level portfolio on Azerbaijan. IDB representative in Baku Tamerlan Taghiyev has said that the IDB current portfolio on Azerbaijan is about $1.2 bn.
“We, as a group, transferred to financing large (with cost up to $250 million) projects in such key areas as energy, water supply and sanitation, irrigation and reclamation. The Bank does not forget about humanitarian development and support of the Government of Azerbaijan and is actively cooperating with the private sector,” Taghiyev said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) said its group net profit for 2011 surged 12.8 per cent to hit Dh1.16 billion ($316 million) compared to Dh1.02 billion the previous year.
Announcing the results, the Islamic bank said the group net revenue too registered solid growth with a 11.4 per cent jump in 2011 to hit Dh 3.42 billion compared to Dh3.07 billion the year before………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Adib) on Monday said its net profit rose 17.3 per cent to Dh1.425 billion last year as compared to Dh1.214 billion in 2010 after it booked lower provisions. For the 2011 financial year, the bank’s net revenue for 2011 was Dh3.41 billion as compared to Dh3.05 billion for 2010, an increase of 11.8 per cent.
Bank’s operating profit totalled Dh2.05 billion against Dh1.844 billion for 2010, an increase of 11.1 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB), which belongs to the Emirates NBD Group, reported a full-year net loss Monday due to significantly higher impairments on financing and investment activities and a surge in expenses.
The bank posted a net loss of Dh448.55 million compared to a net profit of 59.34 million in 2010, the bank said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Muslim education institutions in Malabar have taken a cue from the state government in their interest towards Islamic banking.
While state government is expecting more funds to come to the state through the new banking system, the educational institutions here are gearing up to offer specialized courses anticipating a huge manpower requirement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) official has revealed that total Islamic banking deposits in Pakistan now stand at PKR $463 billion ($5 billion), while total Islamic banking assets have hit PKR 568 ($6.2 billion), with the sector witnessing a growth of 30 per cent.
Akhtar Raza, Chief Manager for SBP, said that the SBP are working on a three- pronged strategy for promotion of Islamic banking. The strategy allows new full-fledged Islamic banks in the private sector and also permitting the conventional banks to set up Islamic banking subsidiaries………………………………………..Full Article: Source

HSBC Amanah has been named Best International Islamic Bank by Euromoney in its Islamic Finance Awards 2012. It also won the Best Project Finance House award, in recognition of its leading project finance advisory services for government-backed companies and private sector developers in Saudi Arabia.
The annual awards are considered to be the most high-profile accolades in the Islamic finance industry and recognise outstanding performance, quality, service and innovation in the sector………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Takaful International Company has reported what it says are “proportionate growth in total insurance contributions”, which amounted to five per cent or BHD 17.1 million compared to the same period of 2010 which reached to BHD 16.2 million. Total Takaful revenues rose to BHD 8.7 million from BHD 7.6 million compared to the same period last year.
“A growth of 19 per cent is reflected in the profits of insurance operations which have increased to BHD 3.8 million compared to BHD 3.2 million in the last year, while earnings per share improved by 19 per cent compared to last year,” it said in a statement posted on the Bahrain stock exchange………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Speculation is mounting that Oman’s insurance sector will witness further mergers and acquisitions if margins remain tight in the coming year. While the introduction of sharia-compliant insurance is expected to drive expansion in the industry, questions remain about both the length of time it will take for insurers to develop new products and whether take up will meet expectations, Global Arab Network reports according to OBG.
Insurers have reiterated their call for an easing of restrictions governing the industry as Oman’s policy writers seek out new avenues of growth on the back of a difficult year………………………………………..Full Article: Source