Even as the world is headed for sluggish economic growth, there is still massive potential for the Islamic finance industry - but only if it can overcome its own fragmented state.
The managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Ravi Menon noted that Islamic finance has shown remarkable resilience during the last five years. The industry has grown by about 20 per cent annually in this period to reach US$1.3 trillion (S$1.7 trillion) in total assets last year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon has underlined key challenges for Islamic Finance to continue thriving. “Islamic finance has come a long way.
“As it embarks on its next phase of growth, the industry must overcome the challenges posed by slower growth and global deleveraging, and build scale and reach critical mass………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Outside Muslim majority countries in places such as China and Singapore, Islamic finance is garnering interest as a viable alternative to conventional banking, according to Business Bermuda’s CEO.
Cheryl Packwood, Chief Executive Officer of Business Bermuda, said: “In April we were in Shanghai and Beijing, when we mentioned Islamic finance; I was initially concerned knowing that Muslims are a minority, and also being a communist state religion isn’t something you’re necessarily supposed to put forward, but we talked about Islamic finance and there was a great deal of interest when we raised the subject.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

In light of increasing financial regulation and a consumer backlash against volatile and complex financial products, Islamic finance looks to be a viable alternative. But Islamic bankers said there’s still some way to go before Islamic banking products go mainstream.
Wasim Saifi, Global Head of Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Saadiq, said: “(The) challenge really is how does Islamic banking convert most of the people who believe in Islamic banking to start practising Islamic banking…………………………………………Full Article: Source

“The first connectivity is financial product connectivity. Common understanding of Islamic financial products globally could promote efficiency since all the market players can really understand how each Islamic financial product works cross borderly and cross sectorally…
“Technically, this connectivity would require mutual recognition from counterparts in international trade using Islamic financial vehicles………………………………………….Full Article: Source

Fifteen years ago, Muslims wishing to take out a mortgage, use a credit card or deposit money into a current account would have been hard pushed to do so and stay compliant with Shariah law.
With few Islamic banks around — and a limited range of Shariah products — banking as a Muslim invariably involved compromising either your faith or your financial needs………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia’s finance ministry aims to raise 1 trillion rupiah ($106.38 million) in a sukuk auction on June 12, the debt office said on Tuesday.
The ministry plans to sell six-month sharia T-bills and project-based sukuk maturing in 2018, 2022, 2027 and 2037, according to the statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Syed Alwi bin Mohamed Sultan, the Kuala Lumpur-based head of Islamic banking for Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas Malaysia Bhd., discusses the trends in Islamic finance at the World Islamic Banking Conference in Singapore.
“There’s greater diversification of the investor base. What we have seen from recent issuance is that there are greater non-Islamic investors coming in to accept sukuk or invest in sukuk instruments. The Khazanah Nasional Dim Sum sukuk witnessed more than 50 percent from Singapore and Hong Kong investors……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza) plans to raise $1.85 billion towards the redemption of its $2-billion Islamic bond this year by issuing another sukuk and obtaining an Islamic financing facility, a source familiar with the plan said on Tuesday.
The source, who declined to be named ahead of any official announcement, said Jafza aimed to raise $650 million from the new sukuk and $1.2 billion from the Islamic facility………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd., a unit of Kuwait’s biggest Islamic bank, said it’s working on a RM3 billion (US$940 million) government-guaranteed Islamic bond sale with two Malaysian banks.
The sukuk, which pay asset returns to comply with Islam’s ban on interest, will be offered by the end of June, said Jamelah Jamaluddin, chief executive officer of Kuwait Finance House’s Malaysian unit. In 2010, the bank arranged the sale of a dollar-denominated Islamic debt in Malaysia for Nomura Holdings Inc, Japan’s largest brokerage………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Jamelah Jamaluddin, Chief Executive Officer of KFH Malaysia explained that attitudes and approaches towards Islamic banking in Malaysia differ from those in the Middle East.
“Shari’ah is the priority versus economic benefit and commercial reason [in the Middle East],” she said. “In Malaysia, it tends to be a bit of both – I think we tend to be more skewed towards the commercial than the Shari’ah principle.” Jamaluddin said she believed that’s why Malaysia has grown into the leading Islamic finance hub. “It’s about business,” she said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bangladesh has launched an Islamic interbank money market, aiming to help sharia-compliant banks manage their short-term funding.
Central bank governor Atiur Rahman told Reuters that the market would provide Islamic banks with a channel to use surplus money. Islamic banks account for over 15 percent of the country’s banking sector………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic finance in Indonesia is growing rapidly, however the country is having difficulty attracting talent to support the industry and needs foreign players to expand its human capital, according to a Bank Indonesia official.
Edy Setiadi, Executive Director of Directorate of Islamic Banking for Bank Indonesia said: “In the last two years alone it [Islamic finance] has grown around 50 per cent. In five to six years, the number of full-fledged Islamic banks has grown from just three full-fledged banks to eleven full-fledged banks, and around 24 conventional banks have an Islamic window.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

MSM Director General said that the operation of Islamic banks in the Sultanate will create some sort of competition between conventional banks in customer service, which will be reflected positively on improving service delivery, reduce the cost and increase the sources of financing that are ultimately in the service of national economy.
He explained that the birth of Islamic banking and their trading tools will be reflected positively on the performance of the Muscat Securities Market, improve its liquidity and trading volumes, showing that MSM will help Islamic banks to obtain the necessary funding sources to finance its activities through putting into circulation Islamic finance tools, such as Islamic bonds and certificates of deposit and other tools that will be included in MSM………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Eurozone crisis, combined with public anger over the excesses of conventional banks, has presented Islamic banks with a golden opportunity to take a greater share of the world’s banking industry, according to Hussain AlQemzi, GCEO of Noor Investment Group and CEO of Noor Islamic Bank.
Speaking at the World Islamic Banking Conference Asia Summit, in Singapore, AlQemzi said Islamic banking has the potential to overtake conventional banking, and establish itself as the world’s preferred banking system. However, to do so, he said, Islamic banking must offer a real alternative to the conventional banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

CIMB Bank on Tuesday said it is launching the Islamic Trade Finance solutions for Corporations and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore.
These Shariah-compliant trade finance products, such as Bank Guarantee-i, Shipping Guarantee-i, Documentary Credit-i and Trust Receipt-i, will allow companies to raise Shariah-compliant working capital to finance their business needs………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Product innovation and knowledge of local market wins over customers of any religion, according to Maybank Islamic’s CEO, Muzaffar Hisham. “One of the reasons is because we are able to price our products to be more competitive, secondly we have some advantages from the Government including tax incentives – not big ones, but small ones but that helps,” said Hisham.
“Of course Malaysia has a Muslim majority, but what is key to us a group, Maybank particularly, is that when we come up with a product yes, Shari’ah compliance is key, it’s a prerequisite, but the drive for innovation and the drive to make sure the product suits the consumer, both Muslim and non Muslim, is out priority………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government of Malaysia (GOM) led the winners in The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards 2012 as chosen by the board of editors at The Asset magazine.
GOM was voted as the Islamic issuer of the year and sukuk issuer of the year for its innovative USD2 billion dual tranche global sukuk offering in June 2011. The deal was the first sovereign sukuk to be structured under the wakala principle as well as using a combination of assets, such as shares and commodity murabaha arrangement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Takaful, the Shariah-compliant form of insurance, holds tremendous potential but continues to be challenged by multiple factors such as a limited product range and non-competitive pricing, a report said.
The report, Opportunities and Challenges in the Middle East Takaful Industry, is released by Zawya and it summarizes and examines panelist commentaries made during the 2012 Takaful Roundtable discussion………………………………………..Full Article: Source