Islamic financial assets around the world hit $1.3 trillion in 2011, a 150 percent increase over five years as the industry expands into new country’s beyond core markets in the Middle East and Malaysia, a report on Thursday estimated.
Developed markets in Malaysia, Iran and the Gulf remain fertile ground for future growth, but considerable potential also exists for expansion as more countries look to cultivate Islamic banking operations, including Australia, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Russia, the report by lobby group TheCityUK’s UK Islamic Finance Secretariat (UKIFS) said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

We should not expect the popular uprisings that have swept the Arab region since the beginning of last year to have a quick, positive impact on political and economic systems of the now-troubled countries.
It is not easy to fight in one or two years the deeply-rooted corruption in the Arab Spring countries or in other countries which have witnessed social unrest. Indeed, we will observe political struggles here and there and we should expect slower economic growth. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Growing appetite for Islamic finance is spurring both large and small Australian financials to boost their offering of Sharia-compliant fixed-income assets, the head of the country’s first Islamic wealth manager said on Thursday.
National Australia Bank Ltd., or NAB, is considering selling up to US$500 million in Islamic bonds in what would be the first issuance of Sharia-compliant debt securities in Australia, two people familiar with the deal told Dow Jones Newswires……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Dar Al Istithmar, the advisor to Goldman Sachs’ planned $2 billion sukuk programme, said it had finished obtaining the approval of Islamic scholars for the issue and that the next move was up to Goldman.
“The ball is in their court,” Geert Bossuyt, chief executive of Dar, told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that the programme had been approved by 10 scholars, which was more than enough, and that the structure of the sukuk had been debated sufficiently………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Hong Kong Government is dusting off its plans to build up an Islamic finance hub in the city, after it launched a two-month consultation on proposed amendments to make tax treatment more favourable for Islamic bonds.
The government is considering changes to the Inland Revenue Ordinance and Stamp Duty Ordinance to promote a local sukuk market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic bonds have staged a comeback, after several gloomy years in which even Muslim bankers and clerics questioned the debt instruments’ religious credentials and issuance dipped precipitously.
The bonds, known as sukuks, are structured to comply with Muslim law, or sharia, and pay a profit rate rather than interest, which is banned in Islam. Clerical doubts over prominent structures, Dubai’s debt crisis and the global financial crisis had combined to send issuance tumbling………………………………………..Full Article: Source

As European banks retrench from Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Ceemea) and Asia-Pacific, the question of who will fill the liquidity gap has gained increasing significance.
Many are hoping that high yield will make up the shortfall, while corporates have been tapping local bond markets in both Russia and Brazil………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi British Bank sold a five-year 1.5 billion riyal ($400 million) Islamic bond, or sukuk, in a private placement, a source said.
“It was a subordinated sukuk, maturing in 2017. The pricing was 120 basis points over sibor (Saudi interbank offered rate),” the source said. The bank is an affiliate of HSBC and posted a 65 per cent rise in fourth quarter profit on lower operating costs………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced that it has repaid in full a $750m five-year Sukuk, which matured on March 22, 2012, from its own sources, demonstrating the bank’s financial strength and comfortable liquidity position.
Issued in March 2007, the Sukuk was oversubscribed by three times, with 45% allocation in the Middle East, 25% in Asia and 30% in Europe, underscoring the regional and international market confidence in DIB. (Press Release)

Arcapita Bank BSC, an Islamic- compliant fund manager overseeing about $7 billion in investments, won permission to use cash within a budget and pay employees in bankruptcy.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane in Manhattan approved Arcapita’s requests on an interim basis to avoid “irreparable harm” to the company. Euroville Sarl, one of Arcapita’s largest creditors with $88.8 million of a $1.1 billion syndicated loan, objected that there wasn’t enough transparency about expenses………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) is planning to expand its wealth management and private banking division with a new office in London and further units across the Middle East, Asia and mainland Europe, a senior executive said.
“From a private banking perspective, I have three offices across the UAE but we need to have a way [of]booking assets in other parts of the world so we are just in the process of opening our branch in London, which we can use as a service centre when our clients visit during the summer,” said Stuart Crocker, head of ADIB’s wealth management and private banking………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said Malaysian-based financial services group, AmBank, has decided to deploy the banking solution of the Indian software major.
The integrated banking suite, spanning conventional and Islamic banking, will support both retail banking and lending functionalities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Al Baraka Bank Egypt, a subsidiary banking unit of Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG), has announced that it had achieved a 54 per cent increase in net operating income in 2011.
Total assets also increased by 9 per cent, financing and investments by 9 per cent, customer deposits by 8 per cent and shareholders equity by 11 per cent at the end of 2011 compared to the end of 2010………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Non Performing Financing (NPFs) of Islamic Banking Industry reached level of some Rs 16 billion for the first time, up by 15 percent, end of calendar year 2011 mainly due to slow economic activities.
Sources told Business Recorder on Thursday that NPFs of Islamic Banking Industry (IBI) continued to grow during CY11 - the banking industry’s financial year - and registered an increase of 15.21 percent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic banking industry (IBI) completed 94 percent of its approved expansion plan in nine year by having a network of 886 branches by end of 2011, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.
Its assets and liabilities both constitute 7.8 percent of the overall banking industry by end of 2011. The quarterly ‘Islamic Banking Bulletin’ said that the asset base of the industry reached Rs 641 billion, indicating 13 percent quarterly growth by close of December 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Alfalah Limited posted a profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 9.757 billion for the year ended December 31, 2011, as compared to Rs 5.603 billion in 2010, registering a significant improvement of 74 percent over the previous year.
The 20th Annual General Meeting of Bank chaired by Abdullah Khalil Ali Mutawa. He said Bank’s deposits grew by 13.34 percent to Rs 401.248 billion as compared to last year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide every child in the world access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression, announced today that the Islamic Development Bank has fully funded the initial distribution of 5,000 XO laptops to primary school children in the West African nation of Cameroon. The project will initially span 51 schools in six regions; planning is underway to extend the deployment across the entire country.
The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral financing institution whose purpose is to foster the economic development and social progress of its 56 member countries — of which Cameroon is one. The Cameroon project represents the first time that the Islamic Development has financed an OLPC deployment. (Press Release)

Dubai Duty Free is raising a $1.1 billion loan backed by the airport retailer’s future cash earnings and hired lenders including Citigroup Inc. to help with the plan, two bankers familiar with the deal said.
Dubai Duty Free’s parent, Investment Corp. of Dubai, the emirate’s main state-owned holding company, also mandated HSBC Holdings Plc. (HSBA), Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB) and Emirates NBD PJSC (EMIRATES) to help with the fundraising, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is private………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Bahrain Institute for Banking and Finance (BIBF) has signed a key memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB).
It was signed in the presence of BIBF director Garry Muriwai, deputy director Hussain Ismail, head of Centre for Islamic Finance Dr Mohammad Omar Farooq, IFSB secretary-general Jaseem Ahmed, assistant secretary-general Abdullah Haron and Abdelilah Belatik………………………………………..Full Article: Source

NCB Capital, a Saudi Arabian investment company with 44 billion riyals ($11.7 billion) of assets, is expanding outside of the region through alliances with TCW Group Inc. and Amundi Asset Management.
NCB Capital plans to start two funds in the second half of 2012 pending regulatory approval managed by TCW and Amundi, said Chief Investment Officer Faysal Badran. TCW and Amundi now manage a combined $550 million of international funds for NCB Capital, the Saudi wealth manager said in a statement on March 24………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bahrain-based Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions has announced the launch of its ‘business partner referral rewards programme’ for real estate service providers based on referral of their customers to finance homes through Sakana.
The announcement was made when the Islamic mortgage finance provider recently hosted a networking dinner for Bahrain real estate service providers at Crowne Plaza Hotel. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source