Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) plans to issue a five-year benchmark-sized Islamic bond, or sukuk, arranging banks said. An issue would be the Saudi bank’s first sukuk under a recently-established $2 billion program.
Initial guidance for the sukuk was at 200 basis points over midswaps. Benchmark is usually understood to be at least $500 million………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Amer Group Holding, an Egyptian resorts developer, is studying offering sukuk valued at up to 2.7 billion Egyptian pounds ($447 million) to finance projects, Al Mal reported, without saying how it got the information.
The company may decide on an Egyptian investment bank to manage the sale in 10 days, the Cairo-based newspaper said. Amer may offer the debt in two portions, a $250-million tranche to finance projects in Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Syria, and a 1.1 to 1.2 billion-pound offering to cover projects in Egypt, it said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Crescent Petroleum Co., Dana Gas PJSC (DANA)’s biggest shareholder, has no plan to provide cash to the United Arab Emirates-based natural gas producer to help pay a $1 billion Islamic bond due in October.
Any “speculation around Crescent injecting further capital to support the Dana Gas sukuk is incorrect,” Majid Jafar, Sharjah-based chief executive officer of Crescent, said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Qatar and Dubai Islamic Bank are planning to tap the Islamic bond market as a scarcity of Shariah-compliant securities and economic growth in the oil-rich region keep benchmark yields near eight-month lows.
Borrowers in the Gulf plan to sell as much as $6bn of dollar-denominated sukuk, which pay asset returns instead of interest, in the next month, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Sales of the debt are already off to a record start of $9.7bn………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s record bond issues in 2012 are from a handful of the kingdom’s biggest companies as a lack of a local-currency sovereign-yield curve hampers sales.
A 15 billion-riyal ($4 billion) sukuk by the state- controlled General Aviation Authority leads local-currency offerings from at least four borrowers in the world’s top oil exporter, data compiled by Bloomberg show………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government of Bermuda has plans to promote the country as a western hub for the Islamic financial services industry. On the signing of a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with Qatar, Premier and Minister of Finance, The Hon. Paula A. Cox, JP, MP, said the move “positions us to market Bermuda as an interconnecting domicile for Bermuda and investment from and to those 50 countries with which Qatar has DTAs.”
The Premier went on to say that investors in countries that to date do not have a DTA with Qatar can establish a domicile in Bermuda and benefit from the Qatar Bermuda DTA and the DTA network………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM) will conduct an Islamic Banking and Finance Training for Palestinians.
IBFIM Chief Executive Officer Datuk Dr Adnan Alias said 23 Palestinians from various ministries and agencies will be attending the two-week training here. “At the end of the course, participants will be awarded a certified qualification in Islamic Finance by the institute………………………………………..Full Article: Source

From the setting up of Bahrain Islamic Bank in 1978, through to the publication of the first set of Islamic finance regulations in 2001, Bahrain has been at the forefront of developments in Islamic finance. It is no surprise then that Bahrain has become the home of the various key infrastructure organisations of Islamic finance over the last 25 years.
These include AAOIFI itself, the International Islamic Financial Market, the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, the Bahrain Institute for Banking & Finance and the Waqf Fund for financing training, development and research………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sri Lanka’s Amana Takafull PLC has recorded a Rs. 109.3 million loss during the financial year 2011, owing to the impact caused by increased claims and volatility in investments.
“Increased claims, volatility in investments, especially equities and gold in the latter half of the year, took its toll on profitability, resulting in negative bottom-line”, Chairman of the Amana Takafull PLC Tyeab Akbarally stated in the company’s annual report………………………………………..Full Article: Source