The World Bank (WB) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set out a framework for collaboration between the two parties and lend support to global, regional and country efforts in the development of Islamic Finance, reports UNB.
President of the IDB Group Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali and WB Managing Director Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin signed the memorandum on behalf of their respective institutions in Tokyo with the common objectives of fostering, encouraging, and studying the expansion of Islamic finance globally, according to a message received here from Tokyo on Sunday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Prime Minister Hashem Qandil announced last month his government’s intention to issue one or two rounds of sukuk, a type of Islamic financial product, before the end of 2012. He offered few particulars, but the reaction of the business community has been largely positive, and the Egyptian government is now occupied with fleshing out the details of the proposal.
Qandil’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is meeting this week with representatives of the financial industry and other political parties to discuss the establishment of rules governing the issuance of sukuk………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Banque Saudi Fransi (BSFR), partly owned by Credit Agricole SA, said it received approval from the Saudi central bank to issue as much 2.5 billion riyals ($667 million) in sukuk.
The Islamic bonds will enhance the bank’s capital base and help expand its lending activities, the Riyadh-based lender said in a statement to the Saudi bourse website today. The maturity of the sukuk is no more than five years, it said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) issued a $500 million five-year Islamic bond, or sukuk, earlier this month, in a rare example of a privately-placed transaction from the supranational institution.
The deal was priced at 30 basis points (bps) over the three-month London interbank offered rate (Libor), according to market data, and was issued as part of the bank’s $6.5 billion sukuk program………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) has successfully priced a $700m 5-year Sukuk issued at par with a 2.688 percent annual profit rate, which will be settled semi-annually. The transaction represents QIIB’s first international debt capital markets issuance.
HSBC, QNB Capital and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners, with Qatar Islamic Bank and CIMB Investment Bank, Malaysia, as Co-Managers on the transaction. The Trust Certificates will be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oman’s non-Islamic banks are set to gain permission this year to offer Shariah-compliant products as retail lending increases the most in three years. The sultanate, which approved licences for two Islamic banks last year, will pass legislation in 2012 to allow banks to offer the services through “Islamic windows,” central bank executive president Hamud Sangur Al Zadjali said recently.
The move may draw customers who had turned to banks in other five Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for retail loans that comply with Shariah’s ban on paying and receiving interest, according to Dubai-based Al Mal Capital………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Turkey is on track to becoming the next hub for Islamic banking and finance. Given the Ottoman legacy, the last seat of the Islamic viceregency, the government of Turkey was only required to show its commitment to Islamic finance before other players in the industry were going to join her in building a vibrant Islamic banking and finance industry.
The recent successful dollar-denominated $1.5 billion sovereign Sukuk issue, followed by a lira-denominated $900 million sovereign Sukuk have put the country on the global platform of Islamic banking and finance. It is expected that many Middle Eastern Islamic banks and financial institutions will enter the Turkish market in the future………………………………………..Full Article: Source

BankDhofar has endorsed a move to introduce sharia-compliant banking services through the launch of an Islamic Banking window. The approval came at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the bank’s shareholders, which was held at Crowne Plaza Muscat on Wednesday.
Attendees also approved the appoint of a Sharia Supervisory Board comprising the following members: Shaikh Dr Salim bin Ali al Dhahab, Shaikh Dr Mohamed bin Ali al Lawati, Shaikh Humoud bin Abdullah al Rashidi, and Shaikh Ahmed bin Awadh Al Hassaan………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Noor Islamic Bank’s (Noor) presents its vision of the Bank of the Future, which it is showcasing at Gitex Technology Week. The high-tech, interactive, concept bank provides a unique, immersive, 3D experience of how the future of banking could develop.
It includes the latest touch screen technology, 3D holographic projections, finger print recognition and surround sound, bringing together technology which is available today, but has yet to make inroads into banking………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic banking players have been urged to be sympathetic to house buyers of abandoned projects and not burden them with debt as it may lead to bankruptcy. Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) financial services monitoring bureau chief, Sheikh Abdul Kareem Said Khadaied said many house buyers face legal action filed by Islamic banking players demanding high payment for uncompleted houses.
“For example, a house buyer was ordered by the court to pay back the full price of the house costing RM492,000 to a bank although the bank only paid RM39,000 to the developer,” he said at Consumer Forum 2012 entitled ‘Is Islamic Banking Only In Name?’ here………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The interest-free Islamic banking has recorded a robust growth in the country in the last few years and can further expand tremendously with the help of effective legislation and introduction of more products.
These views were expressed by Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad, the Founder Rector of the University of Management and Technology (UMT), Lahore. Dr Hasan, who is also chairman of Association of Management Development Institutions in Pakistan (AMDIP), said that total assets of Islamic banking in Pakistan have grown by 34 per cent to Rs641 billion at the end of last calendar year. Similarly, deposits base has also surged by 34 per cent to Rs521 billion during 2011, he added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Three leading brokerage houses have recommended investors to subscribe to the RO40 million initial public offering (IPO) of alizz islamic bank, which will close subscription on October 21. These are United Securities, the Financial Corporation (FinCorp) and Vision Securities.
United Securities believes that the issue is an attractive opportunity for investors to participate in the Islamic banking growth story in the Sultanate of Oman………………………………………..Full Article: Source

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), claimed to be the largest Kuwaiti bank and the highest-rated in the Middle East, reported net profits of $ 814.4 million (KD 228.9 million) for the first nine months of 2012 compared with $ 802.4 million (KD 225.6 million) for the same period of 2011. NBK’s third quarter 2012 net profits reached $ 384.6 million (KD 108.1 million) compared to $ 280.7 million (KD78.9 million) in the third quarter of 2011.
As of end of September 2012, NBK Group’s total assets reached $ 58.1 billion (KD 16.34 billion), up 24.5 percent compared to September 2011, while total group shareholders’ equity reached $ 8.4 billion (KD 2.37 billion), up 5 percent year on year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

CIMB Islamic will continue giving special promotion in terms of financial support to all halal entrepreneurs who join Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) and Halal Fiesta Malaysia (HALFEST). Its Chief Executive Officer, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani said realising that the halal business is a strategic industry, CIMB Islamic has decided to lend support to the development of the halal industry in Malaysia.
“CIMB Islamic has been supporting MIHAS which is targeted for business-to-business (B2B) segment, and now we want to help the business-to-consumer (B2C)’s HALFEST,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of HALFEST Entrepreneurs Award and Gala Dinner, Friday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Queensland solar company The Solar Guys has tapped into the huge Islamic finance market to fund a 50MW solar PV project in Indonesia, the first in a series of projects under an agreement struck with the Indonesian government.
The Solar Guys are proposing to build 250MW of solar PV under a plan it has dubbed the “One Solar Watt Per Person” campaign. The target of 250MW translates into 250 million watts, which roughly equates to Indonesia’s population………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With a majority of these being unregulated, there exists a cut-throat price war; demanding a need to set up effective regulations that will see the desired consolidation and fuel commercial growth. Takaful - the Islamic alternative to conventional insurance - represents a radical new insurance business model that is firing a potentially very big emerging market in the MEA.
Now in its third year, the Middle East and Africa Insurance Summit, will be held on 14-15 January 2013 in Dubai, UAE. The conference will explore the progress of the Middle East and Africa insurance market focused on maintaining profitable business in the sector and the change they are experiencing as leading industry players implement re-tooled strategies to tap into the enormous growth potential that the region offers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

State-owned bank in the United Arab Emirates found a creative way to comply with Islamic law — by not only banning loans with interest, but also embedding a compass pointing the way to Mecca in its credit cards. The bank, Al Hillaj, introduced the card this week to comply with the tenet of Islamic law, or Shariah, which forbids “riba” — charging interest on loans, a practice regarded as potentially encouraging exploitation.
“We continue to see a growing demand, especially in the Middle East, for Islamic banking in general, and more specifically in our case, for cards that are Shariah-compliant in accordance with the tenets of the Islamic faith,” NBC quoted MasterCard spokesman James Issokson as saying………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran, which only has one Nobel Prize laureate, announced the inception of a rival award intended solely for outstanding scientists of the Islamic world, the country’s news agency Fars said. The Great Prophet World Prize will be bestowed biennially on “the Muslim world scientists in three technological fields in which Iran has also make outstanding progress,” said Iranian Vice President for Science and Technology Nasrin Soltankhah.
She did not identify the fields covered by the Great Prophet World Prize, but said it would help prepare Muslim scientists for tighter competition over global awards such as the Nobel Prize, identified in the report as “the Noble prize.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source