When Ahmed El Naggar opened the world’s first Islamic bank in Egypt in 1963, the country looked as if it could harness that legacy to grow into one of the biggest Islamic finance hubs in the world.
But years of suspicion that the Muslim Brotherhood, illegal at that time, would use Islamic finance as a way to gain prominence in the country has left Egypt trailing behind its Arabian Gulf neighbours mainly because no tight regulation or laws have been implemented………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia raised 460 billion rupiah ($48.65 million) from a sukuk auction on Tuesday, lower than a target of 500 billion rupiah, the debt office said.
The country only sold 25-year project-based sukuk at a weighted average yield of 6.69 percent. There were no winning bids for one-year sharia T-bills and six-year, 10-year as well as 15-year project-based sukuk………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The yield premium for Indonesia’s dollar-denominated Islamic bonds over Malaysia’s dropped by the most in a year this month as falling oil prices eased the burden on the budget and made room for economic stimulus.
The spread between Indonesia’s 8.8 percent Islamic debt due April 2014 and Malaysia’s 3.928 percent note due June 2015 narrowed 33 basis points in June to 56 basis points. The yield on the Indonesian securities fell 42 basis points, while the Malaysian rate declined five basis points………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Independent power producer Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd has proposed a Sukuk Ijarah programme of up to RM4.5bil in nominal value (2012/2029).
RAM Rating Services Bhd said on Tuesday it had assigned a preliminary AA2 long-term rating to the proposed programme while the long-term rating had a stable outlook………………………………………..Full Article: Source

RAM Ratings has assigned a preliminary AA2 long-term rating to Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd’s proposed Sukuk Ijarah Programme of up to RM4.5 billion in nominal value (2012/2029).
The long-term rating has a stable outlook. Tanjung Bin Power is an independent power producer that has been granted the right to construct, own and operate a 2,100-MegaWatt coal-fired power plant in Tanjung Bin, Johor, for 25 years, under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) that expires on Sept 27,2031………………………………………..Full Article: Source

This is the year of the sukuk. A jumbo Islamic offering from Qatar last week helped push total international issuance for 2012 to more than US$12.5bn, well above the US$10.6bn high watermark set for the whole of last year. Limitations remain, but the market is showing signs of deepening as well as expanding.
Boosted by local demand, which far outstrips supply, Sharia-compliant instruments have become one of the Gulf’s most popular exports. An increasing proportion of sukuk are being placed abroad, helped by regional issuers adopting larger sizes and longer tenors………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) said the monthly issue of the Sukuk Al-Salam Islamic securities for the BHD 18 million issue, which carries a maturity of 91 days, has been oversubscribed by 188 per cent.
The expected return on the issue, which begins on 25 July 2012 and matures on 24 October 2012, is 1.18 per cent. The securities are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain. This is issue No. 135 of Sukuk Al-Salam securities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Bank of Britain is targetting savers of all faiths with a table-topping account. Islamic Bank of Britain (BB) has stepped up its efforts to attract consumers by launching a table-topping 4pc expected profit rate for its two-year fixed account. The account is open to “customers of all faiths” the bank said.
As an Islamic Bank, IBB does not pay interest to its savers. Instead, the rate is offered as an ‘expected profit rate’, because the Bank invests the funds into Sharia compliant and ethical trading activities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The fallout from the Barclays scandal has left many pondering the allure of so-called “ethical” alternatives to the big high-street brands.
Navigating the various ethical banking options can be arduous, while different organisations may have different ideas of what constitutes an “ethical” option. The following explanations may help you to understand what is available………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Some Islamic banks are looking to support renewable energy including hydropower, solar and wind energy. Finance is a crucially important component of building a green infrastructure and this is even more true in the context of economic difficulty. Islamic lending institutions that create financial mechanisms will benefit the growth of renewable energy.
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) solar power projects are driving major new investment. With projects like Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City and the German-led Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) it is expected that the region will be able to export energy throughout the region and into Europe. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Malaysia government would like to see citizens saving more and having larger pensions. One of those new efforts being promoted by the government is the option of putting pension money in Islamic banks.
New regulations are allowing the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to give those with pensions the option of putting portions, not all, of their pension into Islamic Sharia-compliant areas including sukuk and halal stocks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Al Omaniya Financial Services SAOG, Oman’s largest non-banking financial institution has posted a pre-tax pre-provision profit of RO 3.76 million as compared to RO 3.4 million in the same period last year.
Announcing its approved un-audited half yearly results for the period ended June 30, 2012, the company reported a net profit after tax and provisions of RO 2.378 million as compared to RO 2.068 million in the same period last year, resulting in a growth of 15 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ahlibank SAOG, the recently voted No1 Best Bank and No1 Best Performing Company in the Sultanate announced its un-audited results for the six months ended June 30, 2012.
The bank achieved a net profit of RO 11.835 million in the 1st half of 2012 as against a net profit of RO 8.70m reported during the same period in 2011, demonstrating the bank’s ability to record exceptional growth………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ahlibank is planning to initially launch four branches under its Al Hilal Islamic Banking brand, with the bank planning to open up to ten branches over the following 12 months.
The bank will allocate AED 191 million ($52 mn) as initial capital for its Al Hilal window and the launch of more branches will depend on business opportunity and requirements………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Freedom and Justice Party, the parliamentary arm of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, aims to develop the practice of waqf or religious endowments as part of its plans to expand the use of Islamic finance, a party official said.
In waqf, people contribute a portion of their wealth, in cash or other assets, to sharia-compliant and charitable projects such as mosques and schools. But the management of such endowments in Egypt has been widely criticized as inefficient………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Within days of regulators announcing that conventional insurance firms would be allowed to set up “Islamic windows”, State Life Insurance Corporation – the largest insurance company in the country – has made clear its intentions of launching its own brand of Shariah-compliant insurance products.
State Life Chairman Shahid Aziz Siddiqi said that the insurance giant, which is wholly owned by the federal government, would launch its new range of Islamic insurance within a year. “The launch could be by mid-2013. We’re currently assessing the target market for Takaful (Islamic insurance). We have to fulfil various conditions that the SECP has imposed for Takaful window operators in its recent rules,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Pakistani Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP) has set out new rules to regulate the country’s Takaful business in light of recommendations made by a committee originally set up five years ago.
SECP Chairman Mohammad Ali unveiled the new regulations on 20 July. The Takaful Rules 2012 replace regulations established in 2005. Over the past seven years, stakeholders had brought to the notice of the authorities a number of problems with these rules………………………………………..Full Article: Source