The volume of sukuk issued globally during the first half of the current year reached $ 66.4 billion, according to a report released by KFH-Research, an affiliate of Kuwait Finance House (KFH). The increase in sukuk issuance during the period was triggered by large sums of money pumped by sovereign authorities and central banks to absorb excess liquidity, the report said.
It said the GCC countries used to be a main market for sukuk during the first half of the year, despite the absence of Kuwait and Qatar. The global sukuk currently represents a dynamic part of the Islamic financial system that continues to grow at a remarkable pace………………………………………..Full Article: Source

RAM Rating Services downgraded the long-term ratings of MRCB Southern Link Bhd’s RM845mil secured Senior Sukuk and RM199mil Junior Sukuk and there was a high likelihood of defaulting on both Sukuk on Dec 21, 2012.
Below is the statement issued by RAM Ratings on Thursday: RAM Ratings has downgraded the long-term ratings of MRCB Southern Link Bhd’s RM845mil secured Senior Sukuk(2008/2025) and RM199mil Junior Sukuk (2008/2027), to BB3 (from A2) and C1 (from BBB2); both ratings remain on negative Rating Watch………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Standard Chartered Bank recently launched Saadiq Platinum Card which combines a whole new world of convenience and privileges. This product has been launched to meet the unique needs and concerns and to provide Shariah-compliant solutions to customers. The 0% Instabuys facility for all Saadiq Credit Card customers was also launched.
Afaq Khan, Chief Executive Officer - Islamic Banking of Standard Chartered handed over the first Saadiq Platinum Card to Mr Aminul Islam who is a long vintage customer of Standard Chartered and later shifted to Islamic Banking because of the Islamic offers provided by Standard Chartered Saadiq………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Maybank Philippines Inc. said it is optimistic it can hit its growth target this year after posting a more than four-fold increase in earnings in the first half of 2012. Maybank’s net income jumped significantly to P360 million during the period, from as P89 million in the same period in 2011.
“We are looking at a 20 percent income growth in 2012,” the bank said. The bank also has large interests in Islamic banking through Maybank Islamic Berhad and insurance via its Etiqa subsidiary. In Malaysia, it has 384 domestic branches, and 190 international branches and offices………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic financial products, first authorised by the Omani government in 2011, are set to take off later this year, with the banking, real estate and insurance sectors all expected to see benefits. However, competition is also forecast to increase as both sharia-compliant and conventional banks vie for customers.
Bank Nizwa, the first bank granted authorisation to roll out Islamic financial products, intends to begin operating in the third quarter of 2012. The bank recently raised $156m through an initial public offering (IPO), which will be used to finance the development of new services………………………………………..Full Article: Source

One of the reasons for this lack of awareness is that the concept of Islamic banking is its fairly recent commercialization. Banks and asset management companies in Pakistan are still struggling on how to portray their Islamic product better for the general population’s understanding in minimal ad spaces & an obvious gap between the Shariah Councils issuing the Fatwas and the managers drafting the communication.
A recent survey published in a popular monthly magazine stated that most of the respondents did not know what difference was there between the two and most thought there wasn’t any & ‘Islamic Funds’ was a marketing gimmick………………………………………..Full Article: Source

When Facebook went public in May it became the biggest stock launch of the year, but the two next biggest initial public offerings had something in common - they were both Malaysian companies.
In June, Felda Global Ventures Holdings raised $3.1 billion in shares, and a month later IHH Healthcare raised $2.1billion. Both are Malaysian and for both, key investors came from the Middle East. “Middle East investment is highly important,” Fung Siu, Asia editor for the Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNN’s Ayesha Durgahee………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt said on Thursday it had received an initial $500 million loan from Qatar, part of its effort to secure international finance to stave off a financial crisis. The state news agency MENA quoted Finance Minister Mumtaz El-Saeed as saying it was the first tranche of $2 billion the Gulf emirate had promised to deposit with Egypt’s central bank, and that the remainder was expected to arrive next month.
Qatar announced earlier this month it was providing the loan. Egypt has been rapidly depleting its foreign reserves since the popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak led the central bank to sell dollars to prop up the country’s pound………………………………………..Full Article: Source