The Islamic Development Bank plans to raise up to $1 billion by issuing a sukuk, a spokesman for the bank told Reuters on Wednesday.
Asked about media reports quoting IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali as saying the Jeddah-based multinational lender plans to raise between $500 million and $1 billion through a sukuk, the spokesman said: “That’s true.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Qatar, world’s biggest natural gas exporter, is planning to issue Islamic bonds “Sukuk” for the first time ever, as it has sent a request for proposals to banks and is close to mandating arrangers, report said on Wednesday.
“The sukuk is expected sometime in the second quarter, before the summer break”, the sources said. The richest country in the Muslim world, last tapped global debt markets with a $5 billion conventional multi-tranche bond in November 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar is eyeing its debut international sukuk offering, according to sources. The Gulf state has already sent request for proposals to banks, and is close to being mandated. Sources believe it will choose a mix of international and local banks.
While timing has yet to be decided, the transaction will probably be in the second quarter, ahead of the summer break. Other details, such as size and tenor, have also still be agreed, though if Qatar’s previous conventional deals are any guide, the chances are the sukuk will be a multi-billion dollar offering in more than one tenor………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The yield on Dana Gas PJSC (DANA)’s Islamic bonds due in October jumped to a record after investors were said to have hired law firm Linklaters LLP to help negotiate the restructuring of the $1 billion Islamic bonds.
The yield on the 7.5 percent notes soared to 85.2 percent at 4:31 p.m. in Dubai, prices compiled by Bloomberg show. The Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-based company’s shares dropped 2.3 percent to 42 fils, the lowest in three months, at the 2 p.m. close in Abu Dhabi………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi’s biggest lender by assets, National Bank of Abu Dhabi has launched a Sukuk Income Fund, which will invest in Shariah-compliant investment instruments offering investors attractive returns.
The NBAD Sukuk Income Fund is an open-ended and actively managed product targeting a profit rate of five per cent based on current market conditions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bahrain plans a sovereign bond targeting the U.S. market by the summer, its central bank said on Tuesday, in a sign the Gulf state is confident it can attract international investors in the face of social unrest and budget pressures.
It has mandated JP Morgan, Citi, Standard Chartered and Gulf International Bank to arrange the bond, three sources familiar with the matter said. The bond would be a conventional issue and not an Islamic one, two of the sources said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar’s government, the Islamic Development Bank and a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia’s Dallah Albaraka Group in Sudan have agreed to set up an $11bn Islamic bank that will be based in Doha, Arab News reported, citing Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman Saleh Kamel, chairman and founder of the Dallah Albaraka Group
Kamel will contribute $300m to the venture, and Dallah Albaraka Group which has interests in Islamic banking and financial services, real estate, construction, media and manufacturing will put in $100m, the businessman who also chairs Jeddah’s Chamber of Commerce told the daily. IDB will also contribute $100m………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia’s Bank Islam, the country’s second largest Sharia bank is still exploring plans for a potential acquisition of a stake in PT Bank Muamalat in Indonesia, said its group managing director and CEO Johan Abdullah.
“We are still collecting data and nothing is concrete yet. We like Indonesia because the market is robust and the infrastructure is readily available for us to go in there,” he told reporters after BIMB’s AGM on Tuesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Leading Bahrain-based Islamic banking group, AlBaraka Banking Group (ABG) has announced that its operating income is up 21 percent to $ 205.6 million at end of the first quarter of 2012, thanks to the continued expansion in business, which reflected positively on income.
After deducting all operating expenses, net operating income amounted $96.5 million in Q1 2012, which represents an increase of 16 percent compared to the net operating income during Q1, 2011. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced that its total operating income increased by 21% and net operating income by 16% in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period of 2011. Similarly, statement of financial positions witnessed moderate increases.
Total assets increased by 2%, total financing and investments by 5%, deposits including equity of investment account holders by 2% and total equity by 2% as at the end of March 2012 as compared with the end of December 2011. (Press Release)

“Sixty percent of Muslims worldwide don’t know about Islamic finance,” said Mohamed Nouri, a professor of Islamic finance and economy at the European Institute of Humanities in Paris. And Tunisia is no exception. “Basic Islamic financial products like ijara, salam, and murabaha are unknown to most Tunisians.”
The newly-established Council of Islamic Finance in Tunisia (COFIT) held a press conference today to present the association’s activities for 2012 as well as its twelve ad-hoc committees to publicize Islamic finance to Tunisian individuals and financial institutions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Auditors of Islamic financial institutions need better training to make sure they can conduct accurate assessments of products and practices, a major industry conference was told this week.
Internal teams of auditors check whether Islamic banks and other financial firms are obeying religious principles. They work with companies’ boards of scholars, who then issue rulings on whether specific financial instruments and activities comply with Shariah law………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A global survey of C-level and senior executives shows that demand for Sharia orientated products and services is strong, and expected to grow. Among the reasons: expanding Muslim populations, rising purchasing power, shifting consumption patterns, and a broader range of products and services on offer.
The range of Sharia-orientated products and services is broadening, from food and Islamic finance products to pharmaceuticals, fashion and tourism, among others. (Press Release)

Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd has identified several properties in London which potentially can yield very favourable returns to its funds in line with plans to broaden its income through properties.
Group managing director Datuk Mohamed Hassan Kamil said office type buildings in the British capital could potentially fetch yields in excess of 7.0 per cent, much higher than Kuala Lumpur properties, which makes investing in properties there worthwhile………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The fate of a gender equality bill pending in Indonesia’s parliament and aligned with the United Nations convention on the elimination of all forms discrimination against women (CEDAW) has become uncertain after falling afoul of powerful Islamist groups.
No fewer than six major Islamic organizations have formally objected to the equality bill on the ground that some of its articles go against Islamic values in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation where 80 percent of its 238 million people are followers of the faith………………………………………..Full Article: Source