According to analysts at Kuwait Finance House, the total volume of Sukuk issuance since the beginning of 2012 reached $79.3 billion in the first seven months of the year.
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) says KFH Research’s latest monthly report on the global Sukuk market shows the primary Sukuk market expanding for a third consecutive month in July with the largest amount issued since January. At $12.9 billion it represents a month-on-month and year-on-year increase of 20.8 per cent and 156.0 per cent, respectively………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia’s top sukuk arrangers are predicting domestic sales in 2012 will surpass last year’s all- time high as record-low borrowing costs and the government’s US$444 billion spending program drive issuance.
Offerings of ringgit notes reached RM30.8 billion (US$9.8 billion) this year, compared with RM75.6 billion in 2011. CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, the second-biggest debt manager in the past seven months, has RM15 billion of deals in the pipeline, according to Chief Executive Officer Badlisyah Abdul Ghani………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic finance industry - which is growing rapidly in some areas, such as debt issuance - is neglecting merchandise trade, leaving trade finance for conventional banks to dominate. When the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce held its regional meeting in Qatar in March, for example, a five-day agenda devoted just 30 minutes to Islamic finance.
The event brought together trade experts from around the globe, but Islamic banks were not prominent. In contrast, Commercial Bank of Qatar and Qatar National Bank , both conventional lenders, were major backers of and participants in the event………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Religion has plenty of guidance for all aspects of modern life. That most certainly includes how we manage our money. Paying interest, tithing, charity, even how we should view the concept of money itself. Over the next few weeks we’ll look at the role that the church, the mosque or the temple plays in our financial decisions.
This week, to mark the month of Ramadan, we’ll start with Islam. Islamic finance is fundamentally shaped by its view of interest, or riba in Arabic. Dr. Yahia Abdul-Rahman is the author of “The Art of Islamic Banking and Finance.” He also runs a mortgage firm in Pasadena, Calif. called American Finance House, LARIBA, which means riba-free………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Moves to liberalise Malaysia’s pension market is expected to galvanise the Islamic fi nance market, already a key segment of the country’s economy, though greater regulatory oversight will be needed to bolster investor confi dence in the sector.
On July 23, the international press reported that Malaysia was introducing ‘sweeping reforms’ to its pension system. The changes introduced a new, voluntary Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) to run alongside the existing Employees Provident Fund (EPF)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi arabia is spending more than $60 billion on a logistics hub, airport improvement and roads to reduce travel time in the Arab world’s biggest economy. The investments also yielded the largest sukuk, or Islamic bond, offered in the Middle East this year and an initial public offering on the stock exchange in June.
“There is a large infrastructure boom happening in Saudi Arabia,” said Jarmo Kotilaine, chief economist at Jeddah-based National Commercial Bank………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oman investors could not get enough of Bank Nizwa when the country’s first Islamic lender listed its shares in June. The initial public offering was oversubscribed 11 times as the novelty of a new listing appealed to investors on the smallest of Arabian Gulf exchanges. The share sale also sparked hopes of a rebound in sentiment on the Muscat Securities Market.
Now the fledgling bank is being watched closely by investors as the country reverses its policy on Islamic finance and starts to court new Sharia-compliant equity and debt issues for the first time. It also wants to encourage conventional debt listings………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic syndicated lending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa rose to a four-year high in 2012 as companies from Dubai’s DIFC Investments LLC to Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Etisalat take advantage of falling borrowing costs.
Shariah-compliant transactions have climbed to $8.37 billion (Dh30.74 billion) this year, led by Etihad Etisalat’s 10 billion-riyal ($2.67 billion) deal in February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. State-controlled DIFC Investments raised $1.04 billion to help settle a $1.25 billion Islamic bond………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ahlibank reported a 36 per cent growth in net profit for the first half of this year. Recently the bank completed a rights issue to raise RO25mn for its venture into Islamic banking and boosting its Tier 1 capital.
Chief executive AbdulAziz al Balushi speaks about the bank’s financial performance, the outlook for Islamic banking and the bank’s market position in the sultanate………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic banks may soon gain a foothold in Morocco. The move has been expected since the Justice and Development Party (PJD), advocates of Islamic finance, came to power.
The parliament is set to vote on the new draft banking law in September. The bill will include a special chapter dealing with Islamic banking, according to Central Bank Governor Abdellatif Jouahri………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Mohamed Morsy’s rise to the presidency could reintroduce Islamic banking reform and transform the industry. For months following parliamentary elections, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has been working hard to draft and introduce new legislation that would dramatically transform Egypt’s Islamic banking industry, ending its decades-long role on the sidelines of the Egyptian economy.
A few months after the revolution, a small informal group of Islamic banking enthusiasts emerged to promote Islamic finance in Egypt and to pursue policies that would have been taboo under the Mubarak regime………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Attock Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said that growth rate of Islamic banking in Pakistan is very impressive. A decade back Pakistan had only one Islamic bank while now we have five Islamic banks and Islamic banking branches representing all the top ten conventional banks, it said.
75 countries have recognised Islamic banking, major banks including HSBC, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered have Islamic banking branches or windows, which prove success of Riba-free banking, said President ACCI, Tariq Mehmood………………………………………..Full Article: Source

QIB - the benchmark Islamic bank in Qatar - has scooped the award as the ‘Best Islamic Financial Institution in Qatar’ - for the second year in a row - by Global Finance magazine. The award recognises QIB’s successes in contributing to the growth of Islamic Banking both locally and internationally through the wide range of Shari’a-compliant products the bank offers, and in possessing the correct standards for productive and ethical growth in the future.
Ahmad Meshari, QIB Acting Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We were delighted to win this award last year and to do so again in 2012 is obviously something we’re very pleased about. It confirms the bank’s status as market leader in Qatar, and also that we have a burgeoning international presence with our overseas subsidiaries. (Press Release)

Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd becomes the 1st Wholesale Banking Saadiq client for Standard Chartered Bangladesh. Abdul Muktadir, Managing Director, Incepta Phramaceuticals Ltd, Afaq Khan, CEO Islamic Banking of Standard Chartered Bank, Abrar A Anwar, Managing Director, Head of Origination and Client Coverage, Co-Head Wholesale Banking, Bangladesh and other senior officials were present to mark the occasion.
Standard Chartered Bank has provided a US $ 20 million Musharaka Islamic Finance facility as term finance for 5 years under it’s Saadiq platform to Incepta Pharma for their expansion projects. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Sitting in McDonald’s in Pakistan, one cannot help notice the halal sign on the packaging of their delectable quarter pounder. Although there is uncertainty on who issues halal certification for McDonald’s food sold in Pakistan, there is no ambiguity at all on the importance of eating halal in the life of over 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.
Consequently, a new and dynamic global halal industry is thriving. The halal brand is not only relevant to food but also pharmaceuticals and fashion including make-up, leather bags and shoes. In countries like Malaysia, the government is pushing hard to make the country a global hub for halal products………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The UK-based law firm Clifford Chance, which was appointed by the Sultanate’s insurance regulator Capital Market Authority (CMA), has submitted its draft law for forming Sharia-compliant takaful insurance firms and sukuk debt instruments, said a top-level CMA official.
The rules for takaful insurance companies is going to be a new set of law, while amendments will be made in Capital Market Law to accommodate Islamic debt instruments like sukuks, Abdullah bin Salem al Salmi, executive president of CMA, told Times of Oman, in an exclusive interview………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Conventional insurance companies can open window operations of Takaful by taking benefit from Takaful rules 2012, announced by Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
The Takaful industry will progress rapidly at national level under thee rules, said AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Zubair Mughal. He declared the Takaful Rules 2012 a good step for the industry, which would promote the industry rapidly at national level and the masses would have an opportunity to fulfil their insurance needs under Shariah………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kenya Reinsurance Corporation is in the process of establishing a sharia board to handle its plans to re-insure Islamic business. With this the corporation is angling itself to take up increased premiums from the expanding Islamic-compliant insurance services in the country.
“Kenya Re is in advanced stages of establishing a Retakaful Window with the appointment of a sharia board panel this month,” managing director Jadiah Mwarania said………………………………………..Full Article: Source