Emirates, the world’s largest airline by international traffic, will look at Islamic debt for future financing after paying a $550 million sukuk. “With the Eurozone debt crisis ongoing it’s likely that Islamic financing, with its large pool of liquidity, will play an increasingly important role for us moving forward,” Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said.
“The repayment of our first-ever sukuk bond is part of Emirates’ varied financing strategy and reflects our robust financial position.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Dubai-based Islamic mortgage lender Tamweel has picked three banks to arrange investor meetings ahead of a possible asset-backed dollar Islamic bond, or sukuk, arrangers said on Monday.
A potential issue would be the second for Tamweel this year. The lender, a unit of Dubai Islamic Bank, last tapped global debt markets with a $300 million 5-year sukuk in January, fully-guaranteed by its parent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bahrain plans to kick off investor meetings on Wednesday for a planned dollar-denominated benchmark bond issue, arranging banks said on Monday, in what would be the kingdom’s first offering of non-Islamic debt since Arab Spring-inspired protests began.
The Gulf Arab state, rated BBB by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s, has been hit by anti-government demonstrations in the last year, but managed to raise $750 million from an Islamic bond issue in November. That deal was largely supported by a strong local bid as well as tapping into demand for Islamic assets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) funding plan is now set with the establishment of the RM2.5billion Perpetual Junior Sukuk Programme. The Malaysian Pension fund, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) has subscribed RM 1 billion for the first tranche of the MAS Sukuk programme.
Speaking at the signing ceremony for the Sukuk programme, Malaysia Airlines group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said he was very pleased that KWAP is the first subscriber………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Flydubai, Dubai’s innovative low-cost carrier, has signed a joint partnership with leading Shariah-compliant financial services group, Islamic Finance Company (Aafaq), further expanding its network of payment options across the UAE.
The collaboration will see both companies enhance business opportunities to new audiences, while providing flydubai’s passengers with an additional window at which they can pay for flight bookings, according to a Press statement on Monday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

If Islamic finance (IF) is about business, then, logically, the product offering must primarily be about business and syariah compliance second, correct?
And, if it’s about business, then the continuous question of ‘… is Islamic finance only for Muslims…’ should not arise, but it does. Furthermore, the standardisation seems to be leading the conversation and not the power of the business. Let’s review the lay of the land, as there seems to be a disconnect between promotion, testing and language………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Shari’ah Advisory Council (SAC) of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has announced the adoption of a revised screening methodology to determine the Shari’ah-compliant status of listed companies.
In view of the developments and growing sophistication of the Islamic finance industry since the introduction of the current screening methodology in 1995, the SAC has revised the methodology by adopting a two-tier quantitative approach which applies the business activity benchmarks and the newly-introduced financial ratio benchmarks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ajman Bank announced that it has been awarded the title of ‘Fastest Growing Bank’ in the UAE on the much coveted Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2012.
The Banker Middle East Industry Awards recognize the best performing institutions across the Middle East and North Africa and are widely considered as a benchmark of excellence in the industry………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Forbes Middle East has conducted an in-depth study into the largest banks in the Arab stock markets. This study included detailed research into 19 countries within the MENA region; 12 of which made it on to our final lists.
Due to political instabilities or non-disclosure of annual financial reports for the full year ending Dec. 31, 2011, a number of countries were excluded from the rankings on this occasion. These countries include: Syria, Libya, Iraq, Mauritania, Yemen, Algeria, Sudan and Tunisia………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islam requires Muslims to give 2.5 percent of their wealth to the poor every year. This represents a big potential in aid funding, but much of the money is mismanaged. In search for sustainable forms of aid, some organizations are trying to promote a broader perspective in Muslim giving rather than narrow conceptions of charity.
Every year, somewhere between US$200 billion and $1 trillion are spent in “mandatory” alms and voluntary charity across the Muslim world, Islamic financial analysts estimate. At the low end of the estimate, this is 15 times more than global humanitarian aid contributions in 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source