Islamic exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are struggling to attract fresh investors, in contrast to a move by Western investors into conventional ETFs - a difference due to the Gulf’s plain-vanilla investment culture and the way in which institutions choose financial products.
ETFs are funds which track indexes of shares, bonds or commodities and are traded like stocks. Their sharia-compliant versions follow religious principles such as bans on interest and gambling………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kazakhstan Development Bank held a successful debut 5-year release of the Islamic Sukuk worth more than 11.350 billion tenge. The interest rate will be 5.5% per annum. The share of Kazakh investors accounted for 38% of total output.
Islamic financial instruments has begun to appeal to Kazakhstan and at the end of the year, economists expect further growth in this segment of the financial market. A successful debut issue of 5-year Sukuk Al-Murabaha by the Kazakhstan Development Bank gives rise to optimistic forecasts. The output of shares equaled to 11.350 billion with a 5.5% interest rate per annum………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The ‘sukuk premium’ - the additional cost which borrowers must pay to issue an Islamic bond instead of a conventional bond - has effectively disappeared, and this will stimulate a boom in sukuk issuance while lengthening tenors, a senior executive at Deutsche Bank said.
‘I don’t think there is an Islamic premium anymore,’ Salah Jaidah, head of Islamic finance at the bank and chief country officer for Qatar, said in an interview this week………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia raises IDR 460 billion ($48.65 million) from a Sukuk auction on 24 July, missing its IDR 500 billion target. The Indonesian Ministry of Finance accepted no bids for one-year Shari’ah T-bills and none for the six-year, 10-year or 15-year project-based Sukuk.
Bids were accepted for 25-year project-based Ijarah Sukuk (maturing 15 February 2037) at a weighted average yield of 6.69 per cent. Bids worth a total of IDR 2 trillion were made in the auction………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Securities Commission’s (SC) prediction of a RM3.3 billion to RM7.7 billion inflow into syariah funds via the Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) will mean a richer treasury for the nation.
Asian Strategic Leadership Institute’s (Asli) Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman and economist Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam told The Malay Mail that with such a fund available domestically, there was no need for Malaysia to borrow money from abroad………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top-tier Islamic financial institution, today announced the expansion of its regional footprint by opening its first branch in Iraq. It becomes the first UAE-based financial institution to receive a full operations banking license from the Iraqi Central Bank and to start operations from Iraq. The first fully-fledged ADIB branch is located at Baghdad and is led by Jawdat Mahmoud Jawdat.
ADIB is now poised to support and guide UAE and GCC investments in Iraq and its surrounding areas, it will also develop the Islamic finance industry in Iraq by bringing best in class Islamic banking products. (Press Release)

Three local banks are exploring ways to cooperate with International Islamic Trade Finance (ITFC) to provide trade financial solutions for Malaysian entrepreneurs doing business in emerging markets, including in Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and non-OIC countries.
Tujuh Keajaiban Middle East Free Zone Enterprise (TK) chief executive officer Krishnan Ramamurthi said the solutions being worked out were for entrepreneurs who wanted to increase their business turnover overseas………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Whether you’re bored of bank bashing or not, there’s no denying that people are searching for more trustworthy, transparent places to place their cash. And with the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) launching a table-topping 4% expected profit rate for its two-year fixed account, will faith-based bank accounts prove a popular alternative?
Contrary to what you may think, the account is open for anyone to apply. And as an Islamic bank, IBB does not pay interest. The rate is offered as an ‘expected profit rate’, because the Bank invests the funds into Sharia compliant and ethical trading activities. These activities deliver a profit over the 24 month term………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sharjah Islamic Bank has announced H1 net profit of AED 149.2 million, compared to 123.3 million achieved in the same period last year, a 21 per cent increase. The balance sheet grew by 2.2 per cent since December 2011 with total assets reaching AED 18.1 billion. Net customer receivables reached AED 10.6 billion rising by AED 142.8 million (or 1.4 per cent) while customer deposits reached AED 10.8 billion rising by AED 385.8 million (or 3.7 per cent) growth since December 2011.
Liquid assets were stable at AED 4.1 billion or 22.7 per cent of the balance sheet at the end of June 2012 compared to a similar 4.1 billion or 23.2 per cent of the balance sheet at the end of 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) is offering a new two-year fixed term deposit savings bond that pays an expected profit rate of four per cent.
As an Islamic Bank, the IBB does not pay interest to savers. Instead the rate of four per cent is offered to investors as an “expected profit rate” which deliver a profit over an agreed period, in this case 24 months………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Jordan Islamic Bank’s (JIB) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BB-’ with a Stable Outlook, Short-term IDR at ‘B’ and Viability Rating at ‘bb-’. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this rating action commentary.
JIB’s IDRs are driven by the Viability Rating. The affirmation reflects the bank’s solid domestic franchise (JIB is the domestic market leader in Islamic banking in Jordan), strong liquidity and healthy profitability………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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

The human and talent factor is very much needed to ensure that Malaysia consolidates its position as a global Islamic financial hub.
“Islamic finance has grown rapidly in recent years and so has the demand for knowledge,” Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM) chief executive officer Datuk Adnan Alias said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A multinational group of companies dedicated to the Islamic banking industry has announced the first nominee for the Islamic Banking & Finance internship, cosponsored by Bank of London & the Middle East in London, Wafi International in Riyadh and Safa Investment Services in Geneva and Riyadh.
Thomas R. Woods, graduating end 2012 from Durham University (U.K.) with a Master’s degree in Islamic Finance, was chosen to serve for six months………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Al Omaniya Financial Services, Oman’s largest non-banking financial company (NBFC), announced its approved un-audited half-yearly results for the period ended June 30, 2012.
The company has announced a pre-tax pre-provision profit of RO3.76 million as compared to RO3.4 million in the same period last year. The company made a net profit after tax and provisions of RO2.378 million as compared to RO2.068 million in the same period last year, resulting in a growth of 15 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

AmIslamic Funds Management Sdn Bhd (AIFM) has been named Islamic Asset Management House of Malaysia in the Islamic asset management category by The Asset at the annual Triple A Awards 2012 ceremony recently.
“Our total assets under management (AUM) for the last financial year has recorded a yearly growth of 35%, which was the second highest among its peers. The growth was seven times more than the yearly average growth of 5% achieved by our Islamic peers in Malaysia,” AmInvestment Bank Group’s Funds Management Division CEO Datin Maznah Mahbob said……………………………………….Full Article: Source