Germany has been a desert as far as Islamic banking is concerned and analysts remain sceptical about the market potential for such products in Europe’s largest economy. Part of the reason is the majority of Muslims in Germany are of Turkish origin and relatively secular in outlook. Their relatively low income is a further factor.
“In Turkey, Islamic banks have a market share of just five percent, and that hasn’t increased in 40 years,” said Rebecca Schönenbach, an Islamic finance specialist at the Raven Centre, a think tank on the subject……………………………………..Full Article: Source

With investor demand for Islamic bonds growing, the growth in Islamic finance as an emerging global financial industry can be attributed to a multitude of factors. These include a growing global Muslim population, rising oil wealth and the emergence of multiple new issuers combined with the increase in the global acceptability, competitiveness and availability of Islamic investment products.
Access to a larger investor universe is seen as a key advantage of structuring Islamic products. With sukuk continuing to outperform conventional bonds in the Gulf region in Q2 2012, the Islamic bonds market is set to create new records in 2012……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Turkey has mandated Citigroup, HSBC and Kuwait’s Liquidity House to manage the sale of its first-ever sovereign sukuk, or Islamic bond, as it seeks to tap a rich pool of investors flush with oil money.
Banks will explore opportunities for a possible lease certificate issuance in a series of investor meetings between Sept.10-13 in Asia and the Middle East, the treasury said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Banking sources told Reuters the dollar-denominated sukuk would be issued in the week of Sept.17, but gave no further details……………………………………..Full Article: Source

2012 is already proving to be a bumper year for the sukuk market with nearly USD 68 billion in new issues in the first half alone, according to Zawya Sukuk Monitor data. This represents a nearly 56% increase year over year from the record-setting pace set in 2011.
Already, the third quarter of 2012 is off to a promising start with Qatar’s dual-tranche USD 4 billion sukuk issuance and Emirates Islamic Bank and Emaar each issuing USD 500 million worth of sukuk. The sukuk market also welcomed the first issuer out of Kazakhstan in the form of the Development Bank of Kazakhstan’s MYR 240 million maiden sukuk……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The bond and sukuk market had a poor start to the year in the GCC with total issuance down by 18.7 per cent to $37.6 billion. The month of June predominated in terms of issuance frequency with 32 issues though May witnessed the highest value at $7.3bn, according to a report by the Kuwait Financial Centre, Markaz.
The total amount outstanding of corporate and sovereign bonds issued by GCC entities has now reached $205.6bn. Corporate bonds make up the majority of the total amount outstanding with $138.3bn or 67.2pc of the total amount. Sovereign issuances amount to $67.4bn……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic Microfinance is a viable means to curb poverty, a specialized report by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) said Wednesday.
Addressing poverty continues to be one of the greatest challenges faced by governments around the world today. In Islam, a person is considered poor if he/she does not have sufficient material wealth in hand to meet his/her basic needs, i.e. to protect one’s religion, physical self and family, seek knowledge or education, and accumulate some wealth……………………………………..Full Article: Source

As banks and regional hubs throw their weight behind Islamic finance, shariah-compliant products are crossing not just national borders but also product lines in Asia. There’s nothing out of the ordinary about Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the government investment corporation of Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim Southeast Asian nation, issuing a sukuk (a shariah-compliant bond).
But when Khazanah chose the Far East financial center of Hong Kong as the market to issue a sukuk and also chose to denominate it in renminbi, the currency of mainland China, market watchers raised their collective eyebrows. And when the issue was 3.4 times oversubscribed and priced at the high end, raising the equivalent of $357.8 million, the significance was lost on no one……………………………………..Full Article: Source

It has been reported that Indonesia could utilize the potential of Islamic finance to fulfil its ambitious infrastructure plans, Standard & Poor’s said in a report.
The poor state of infrastructure is hindering the growth of Southeast Asia’s largest economy, the report said, while noting that the government is planning to spend more than $200 billion through 2014 to upgrade and expand infrastructure……………………………………..Full Article: Source

A new Islamic endowment fund to be used specifically to finance Islamic education was launched on Tuesday, the first to accept cash donations with no minimum amount.
This collection of donations or properties willed by Muslims towards religious or charitable purposes, called a wakaf, was launched by Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim. It will be named Wakaf Ilmu, which means “knowledge”……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Noor Islamic Bank is turning to the East, as it seeks to expand its international footprint beyond the Middle East and Turkey. The bank, a leading Islamic finance provider in the UAE, believes the emerging economies of Southeast Asia, in particular, will provide significant opportunities for it to further grow its multi-billion dollar, cross border business.
“We see tremendous opportunities stemming from greater cooperation between financial institutions in South East Asia and the GCC,” said Hussain AlQemzi, GCEO of Noor Investment Group and CEO of Noor Islamic Bank……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Kuveyt Türk, based in Instanbul, plans to set up the first Islamic bank in Germany next year to tap into a potential market of more than four million Muslims. An official at the German branch of Kuveyt Türk, majority-owned by Kuwait Finance House, said on Monday the bank was preparing its application for official approval.
“We haven’t issued a statement on that because we’re not in a position to while the licence is being worked on. We will release a statement only when we get the licence,” said the official……………………………………..Full Article: Source

International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) announced opening of the Islamic Window and starting up Islamic Banking and Financing activity, IBA said. Board of Directors approved opening of Islamic banking department and appointed Mr. Behnam Gurbanzada as a Director Islamic Banking.
Behnam Gurbanzada joined IBA in 2002 and before held a positions of a deputy Director of Strategic Development and Marketing department and the head of the working group on introduction of Islamic banking in the IBA……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Pakistan’s central bank has announced it will develop rules defining the roles and responsibilities of all those involved in the sharia compliance process of Islamic banks, including scholars.
The rules aim to strengthen governance of the Islamic finance sector in the world’s second most populous Muslim nation, the central bank said in a statement on Tuesday. It did not give details of the new rules……………………………………..Full Article: Source

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is evolving a five-year (2013-17) strategic plan for the Islamic banking industry that will move the industry to the next level of growth.
SBP Deputy Governor Kazi Muktadir speaking at the Islamic Finance News (IFN) Roadshow here on Wednesday said the central bank was also developing a comprehensive framework to further strengthen the Shariah governance in Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs)……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran and Turkey should start working on establishing new banks to support mutual trade, as some companies from the Islamic republic are heading to Turkey to continue their activities due to restrictions they face in Dubai’s banking system, an Iranian business leader told the Anatolia news agency.
“Iranian companies have begun to head for regions such as Korea, Hong Kong and India, as they have had difficulty in their activities in Dubai. Some of them have come to Turkey. They came to Turkey when their activities were restricted due to the banking system in Dubai,” said Turkish-Iranian Business Association President Hamid Kian……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The decision to licence the operation of the Islamic banking in the Sultanate has opened up windows of opportunities for the banking sector in Oman, writes Philip Paul, Head of Agency for Cluttons 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 capitalise on the opportunities presented by the new industry and meeting the increasing demand for Shari’ah-compliant finance……………………………………..Full Article: Source

There is a need for the government and the private sector to look at the halal economy from a business perspective instead of a purely religious one, to fully capitalise on the opportunities so that Malaysia is not left behind in meeting the burgeoning global demand for halal products.
“When you talk about the halal economy, you should segregate the religious and business part of it. All this while, there has been a lot of focus on the religious side. What about the business side of it? “If we don’t have capable players and good products, it still doesn’t bring anything to the country,” said Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin……………………………………..Full Article: Source