Islamic repurchase agreements may struggle to gain wide acceptance as a tool for financial institutions because the industry lacks clear rules governing their use, participants at a major industry conference told Reuters.
Liquidity management products such as Islamic repos were one of the main themes at the annual meeting of the Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in Manama this week………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar has mandated five banks to help arrange a new sovereign sukuk, four sources familiar with discussions said yesterday, the state’s first Islamic bond in almost 10 years.
Qatar, the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporter, has picked Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank , HSBC, Barwa Bank and QInvest for the deal, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the details are not yet public. Qatar sent a request for proposals (RFP) to banks in April, the sources said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is likely to raise around US$750 million -US$1 billion through a sukuk issuance to finance projects for its member countries.
“The exact amount will be decided soon and we will make an announcement next month,” its president Tan Sri Ahmad Mohamed Ali told Bernama on the sidelines of the Malaysia-IDB Group Investment Forum here Thursday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Egyptian central bank’s refusal to issue a license for the establishment of new Islamic banks could incite a crisis between Egypt’s top monetary authority and the pre-dominantly Islamist parliament.
The Egyptian parliament, mostly consisting of members from the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Salafi al-Nour party, objected to the Central Bank’s decision on Thursday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia has acted on an initial deal to support the Egyptian economy to the tune of nearly $2 billion. But the loan won’t defuse a looming row between Parliament and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
The CBE has so far refused to issue new Islamic banking licences. A report in the Egyptian newspaper al-Shark al-Awsat claims the central bank said it would allow existing banks in Egypt to open Islamic windows but that in order ‘to protect’ Egypt’s banking market it would not issue new licences………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) intends to enter markets of the neighboring countries with its own Islamic banking products, the IBA chairman of board Jahangir Hajiyev said in an interview with The business year.
“For the first time in Azerbaijan’s history, we are planning to establish a new office in the field (Islamic banking), enabling the country to become a regional center for Islamic financing. This decision was made bearing in mind the favorable geopolitical situation of the country and the availability of the markets in neighboring countries, such as Russia and Kazakhstan………………………………………..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

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Qatar International Islamic Bank’s (QIIB) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A-’ with a Stable Outlook. QIIB’s IDRs are support-driven and reflect Fitch’s opinion of an extremely high probability of support from the Qatari authorities if required.
Support from the Qatar government for QIIB and the domestic banking sector has been clearly demonstrated in the recent past including significant capital injections and the purchase of equities and loan portfolios since 2008, following the global financial crisis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

When we started setting up Islamic banks together with Prince Muhammad Al-Faisal and Saeed Lota more than 35 years ago, we were three pioneers in this field. We established some of these banks independently while some others jointly.
When we embarked on this mission, we never dreamed of such a robust growth for these banks that have now become as strong as commercial banks. At present there are more than 300 Islamic banks across the Muslim world and Europe with their total assets exceeding $500 billion. We have performed well with excellent results in a number of banks. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Capital International Private Equity Funds has closed a $3 billion global emerging markets private equity fund, the largest fund of its kind in five years.
The largest private equity fund raised for global emerging markets is the $5 billion Sharia Fund of Funds raised by BMB Capital in 2006, according to Preqin………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia will showcase its vast experience in Islamic banking and finance with a Country Showcase event preceding the 9th Annual Summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) which is scheduled to be held on 16 - 17 May 2012 at the Swissotel, The Bosphorus in Istanbul, hosted for the first time by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.
Themed, “Promoting Global Financial and Economic Linkages through Islamic Finance”, the Malaysia Country Showcase is organised by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in support of the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative, whose objective inter alia is to consolidate Kuala Lumpur as a major global Sukuk origination hub. (Press Release)

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak affirmed his country’s keen interest to cooperate with all investors, particularly with members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
IDB President Ahmed Muhammad Ali said total funds approved by the IDB Group to Malaysia have reached $ 1.4 billion for 117 projects covering infrastructure, energy, education, agriculture, mining in addition to imports and exports………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak welcomed investors from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries to consider projects under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) as a safe home for their surplus cash.
He said the programme called for huge investments in a number of key sectors — advanced technologies, including green and renewable technology, healthcare, education and tourism and hospitality………………………………………..Full Article: Source