Standard Chartered bank is arranging up to four sukuks in the Gulf region. Afaq Khan, CEO of Standard Chartered’s Islamic banking unit, said the bank is involved in 3-4 corporate and sovereign sukuks likely to be issued this year.
“There are 3-4 sukuk deals in the pipeline that Standard Chartered is working in the region. These are UAE dirham, US dollar and Malaysian ringgit denominated sukuks to be issued by corporates and sovereigns,” Khan said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic finance industry will grow 15% annually in the next decade, after syariah- compliant banking assets surged in Asia in the past year, according to a global standards-setting body.
Holdings in Malaysia rose 27% to RM344bil in the 12 months to April 30, according to the central bank. In Indonesia, they climbed 43% to 144.3 trillion rupiah (US$15.2bil), official data show………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar’s Barwa Bank plans to issue a sukuk by 2013 and is eyeing a share listing over the longer term, according to its chief executive.
The Islamic lender, a unit of Barwa Real Estate, sees an issuance as helping smooth out maturities in the state, which plans to invest about $130 billion in its non-hydrocarbon sector through to 2018………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Australian fund manager Crescent Wealth plans to launch the country’s first Islamic pension fund by December and allocate between 15 to 30 percent of it in property, its managing director said.
Talal Yassine said Crescent Wealth hopes to build the fund to between A$4 billion ($4.03 billion) and A$6 billion in five years. Crescent Wealth, which was established last year, currently has less than A$5 million under management and advice but Yassine expects strong growth for his fund due to a lack of available Shariah-compliant financial products in Australia………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank ( IDB ) has signed a Framework Co-financing Agreement (FCA) with Korea Development Bank (KDB) in which each bank will earmark $1 billion to co-finance public private partnership (PPP) projects in IDB member countries over the next three years.
The common pipeline of projects for co-financing would be based on the two institutions’ shared understanding of the development needs of the target countries and best practice concepts on development financing. The agreement aims to target projects in infrastructure, agriculture, human development and development of the private sector………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abouelnaga said a US$1 billion loan from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, which is affiliated with the Islamic Development Bank, will be signed on Monday.
The loan would have a 3.25 percent interest rate. In a statement to the press on Thursday, Abouelnaga said money from the loan will be distributed to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and the General Authority for Commodities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Government has finalised working on regulations to oversee the operations of Islamic banking in Zambia, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda has said. Islamic banking, which is a financial service that meets the requirement of Shariah or Islamic Law, is designed to meet specific religious requirements of Muslims and there is no interest charged.
Chikwanda said the regulations for the operation of Islamic banking in the country will come into effect before the end of this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A Bahraini court has sentenced the former chief executive of Bank Al Khair in absentia to four years in jail for embezzlement and squandering the bank’s funds, the Islamic lender said.
It said the Criminal Court of Bahrain also convicted Majid Al-Refai at a hearing on Tuesday of destroying bank documents as well as preventing shareholders and authorised entities from accessing bank records………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The inauguration of The Shard of Glass skyscraper in London has put UK real estate firmly in the spotlight as an increasingly important asset class for Islamic finance.
Perched 310 meters above the London cityscape, making it the tallest building in the European Union, the Shard has already become an iconic landmark globally. It is also a strong symbol of the rise of Islamic finance, as the project was 95% funded by the Qatar National Bank in a Shariah-compliant transaction………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The draft Reit regulations 2012 published by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) allow for creation of Shariah-compliant Reit products. Besides complying with requirements for development and construction Reits (D-Reits) and income investment Reits (I-Reits), proposed Islamic Reit funds will have to appoint Shariah advisers.
Shariah advisers will guide Reit managers on Shariah principles applicable in Kenya and conduct Shariah-compliant assessments of the terms of Reit schemes and Reit securities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The uncertainty and disparity in some areas of Islamic finance can at times be an added cost for industry players or turn them away from it, said a senior Securities Commission (SC) director.
Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin, the SC executive director, said the legal, regulatory and tax frameworks for Islamic finance sometimes differ from one market jurisdiction to another, and this poses a challenge when one goes into cross border situations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic finance industry will continue to grow much faster than conventional banking in the Middle East and also increase its market share despite issues of Shariah standards across markets, regulations, tax issues, and documentation standardisation.
“The Islamic banking industry is considered to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the financial industry,” Nimish Makvana, secretary, ICAI — Dubai Chapter, said in his opening remarks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The global Islamic finance and banking sector is pegged at $1 trillion with an estimated growth rate that is four times higher than conventional financial services, according to organisers of the upcoming International Islamic Finance Conference 2012.
They noted that the sector is undergoing a dramatic change with its one-time easily identifiable early entrants of the 1970s increasingly joined by new dedicated players, alongside Sharia specific, specially-branded product offerings from the general banking sector………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Shariah Capital, Inc. a specialist in Shariah-complaint financial services, Thursday reported a narrowed operating loss for 2011, and said it is reviewing the costs and benefits of its AIM listing as the MENA investment environment remains difficult and the company considers new business opportunities.
Revenue in year ended Dec. 31: $1.15 million (2010: $1.28 million). Operating loss $380,479 (2010: loss $412,912)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The global takaful industry has witnessed tremendous growth in the last decade. The Ernst & Young World Takaful Report 2012, which was launched at the seventh Annual World Takaful Conference in Dubai last April, confirmed that global takaful contributions grew by 19 per cent to $8.3 bilion in 2010, out of which, the GCC contributed $5.68bn.
However, the GCC insurance landscape is still dominated by conventional insurers and regional takaful operators are facing stiff competition from established conventional players and foreign players entering the takaful market space………………………………………..Full Article: Source