Indonesia will let Shariah-compliant banks hedge against exchange-rate movements to spur growth in Islamic financial assets and narrow the gap with Malaysia’s industry, which is seven times larger.
Bank Indonesia, the National Shariah Board and the Indonesia Institute of Accountants have approved the instruments, available in Malaysia since 2006, Adiwarman Azwar Karim, Jakarta-based vice chairman of the board’s Islamic capital market working committee, said in an Aug. 3 interview. The central bank said it is working on regulations, declining to say when they would be finished………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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

Pakistan’s regulator has introduced new takaful (Islamic insurance) rules designed to boost competition and lift the sector’s market share by allowing the entry of conventional players, prompting a legal challenge from takaful providers.
The rules, launched last month, make Pakistan the second country after Indonesia to officially allow takaful windows, which enable firms to offer sharia-compliant and conventional products side by side, provided client money is segregated………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With the recent launch of Takaful rules, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission Pakistan (SECP) has allowed conventional insurance companies to roll out Takaful, or Islamic insurance, products through window operations. Irked by the SECP’s move, existing Takaful operators went to court and got a restraining order over the implementation of the new rules from the Sindh High Court on August 2.
Takaful operators say, the decision to allow conventional insurance companies to launch Islamic products will “distort” the segment, as window operators will conduct the Takaful business “in a manner against the principles of Sharia”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia sold 540 billion rupiah ($57.05 million) of sukuk in an auction on Tuesday, above a target of 500 billion rupiah, with yields rising slightly from the previous auction, the finance ministry said.
The country raised 500 billion rupiah from sales of 25-year project-based sukuk and 40 billion rupiah from six-year sukuk. There were no winning bids for six-month sharia T-bill and 10 and 15-year project based sukuk………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Issuance of Islamic bonds soared in July to its strongest monthly volume in 2012 and the second highest on record, with the total value of all deals priced reaching $6.6bn, according to Dealogic.
July 2012 issuance was more than three times the amount issued in July a year earlier, when $2.1bn of deals priced. It was the second highest month on record for Islamic bonds, with the highest ever coming in December last year with $10.3bn of deals………………………………………..Full Article: Source

In the region there have been challenges to Islamic banking due to the slump in real estate, however, advocates say the system has built- in protection when compared with the conventional financial institutions as excessive risk taking is banned.
The decision to licence the operation of Islamic banking in the Sultanate has opened up windows of opportunities for the banking sector in Oman. The successful launch of “Bank Nizwa”, an exclusive Islamic bank and the opening of Islamic banking operations windows within conventional banks is evidence that the banks plan to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the new industry and meeting the increasing demand for Sharia-compliant finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Standard Chartered arranged a one year USD 35 million Islamic Structured Trade Finance facility for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The Bank was the Sole Arranger and Structuring Bank for this transaction.
The facility is structured as an offshore transaction under an Islamic mode which uses an innovative Services Ijara concept based on purchase and distribution of airline seats………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top-tier Islamic financial services institution, announced that it will postpone personal financing installments for the month of August for its customers. The postponement continues the bank’s traditional annual goodwill gesture during the holy month of Ramadan and is expected to help customers deal with the additional expenses typically associated with Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr.
Installment payments will be automatically postponed to September 2012 for all retail customers who have availed financing of less than Dhs500,000. They will not incur any charges for not paying installments for the month of August 2012………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sri Lanka’s Innovest Investments has launched an “Islamic Shari’ah Compliant Investment Plan” which comprises of only Shari’ah compliant stocks traded on the Colombo Stock Exchange.
The company says, with this scheme in operation, investors who prefer to avoid interest or Riba can now limit their investments to shares from a basket of Shari’ah compliant companies………………………………………..Full Article: Source