When a businessman in Muslim-majority Azerbaijan wanted a bank loan that complied with Islamic principles, until a few years ago he had to negotiate it under the table.
The government’s fear of political Islam forced banks to conduct “guerrilla Islamic finance” in which sharia-compliant deals were hidden under the appearance of conventional banking, says Fuad Aliyev, a scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute in Washington DC………………………………………..Full Article: Source

After at least five years of delays, Islamic finance experts in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are renewing efforts to create common regulations for scholars. Malaysia’s International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance is working with its Middle Eastern counterpart on guidelines that will address the number of boards on which scholars can sit to reduce conflicts of interest, according to Executive Director Mohamad Akram Laldin in Kuala Lumpur.
An institution will also be established to provide global accreditation, said Akram, who helped set up a body last year to oversee advisers’ activities in the Southeast Asian nation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic finance is expected to thrive at a faster rate in emerging economies given their resilient economic dynamics and potential, well as awareness of the industry, says KFH Research Ltd.
Its Managing Director/Vice Chairman, Baljeet Kaur Grewal said the liquidity in the emerging markets for Islamic finance is still growing at a robust pace and this basically is driving the demand for Islamic finance products………………………………………..Full Article: Source

KPMG, a leading International firm providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services yesterday organised at the Grand Hyatt, a seminar on Islamic Finance-Lessons Learnt from abroad & Challenges faced in Oman.
This was the latest in a series of Breakfast Seminars that KPMG held earlier and is planning to hold over the coming months. This Seminar brought together people involved with Islamic Finance industry, the regulators and the support organisations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global credit rating agency Fitch has assigned International Islamic’s $700mn trust certificate (sukuk) issue a final rating of ‘A-’. The issuing entity is QIIB Sukuk Funding.
The final rating for the five-year certificate is assigned following the receipt of final documents conforming to the information previously received and the closing of the transaction. The rating for the certificate is the same as the expected rating assigned early this month………………………………………..Full Article: Source

LBS Bina Group Bhd said it has made two more early settlements by redeeming and cancelling part of its first tranche of the RM15 million sukuk programme and the entire third tranche of the RM20 million sukuk programme.
“The redemption for part of Tranche 1 and entire Tranche 3 are 645 days and 274 days ahead of their respective maturity date………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd., the country’s third-biggest lender by market value, said it will begin offering a Shariah-compliant asset-finance product for corporates companies to meet growing demand.
The lender, based in Nairobi, has set aside $30 million for the so-called Corporate La Riba Asset Finance product, which offers fixed pricing and repayment periods of up to five years, Chief Executive Officer Adan Mohamed told reporters today in the port city of Mombasa………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has approved a US$710-million loan for Iran to implement four projects. Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Mehdi Samareh-Hashemi said that the loan will be used in establishing treatment plants at upstream areas around dams and rural regions to prevent environmental pollution.
Iran and IDB reached the agreement during the sidelines of the IMF annual meeting in Tokyo, TREND news agency quoted a report from Iran’s news agency IRNA………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Meezan Bank has recorded 16% growth in its profit-after-tax which increased to Rs. 2,663 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 as compared to Rs. 2,292 million earned in the corresponding period last year. Earnings per share of the Bank was recorded at Rs. 2.95 (September 2011: Rs. 2.54) on enhanced share capital of Rs. 9 billion.
The Bank achieved growth in all business segments and consolidated its position as the leading Islamic bank of Pakistan. The Board of Directors of Meezan Bank, in its meeting held in Dubai, U.A.E on October 11, 2012 approved the financial statements of the Bank for the nine months ended September 30, 2012………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Barwa Bank, Qatar’s Shariah compliant banking service provider, has launched Qotof, a suite of financial packages aimed at assisting local corporates achieve their business objectives and most importantly save money, a statement said.
The bank has put together an array of selected products, which until now would have been sold separately. The result: Business Banking “bundles” that are highly cost effective, enabling business to considerably reduce expenses while offering an enhanced banking experience………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The benchmark Islamic bank in Qatar – has announced the launch of new issue of “Hemaya” investment product series called “Masaref” that is linked to the performance of some of the leading Islamic banks in the region.
“Masaref” is QIB’s answer to investors who are seeking a ‘safe haven’ and potentially higher rates of return for their capital. QIB has stepped up to the plate with this new issue aiming to provide both positives of safety and return on investment by harnessing the impressive growth of Islamic banking in the region………………………………………..Full Article: Source

National Bank for Development (NBD) has allocated EGP 200 million towards providing funding for small and micro enterprises, and designed a comprehensive range of funding programmes that are Shari’ah-compliant.
Nevine Loutfy, CEO and Managing Director of NBD, said, “The bank’s aim from offering Shari’ah-compliant micro-financing is to address the banking needs of a market segment that has been largely marginalised in terms of receiving financing services, with the end goal of elevating their standard of living and encouraging entrepreneurship.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

AMMB Holdings Bhd has obtained Bank Negara Malaysia’s nod to begin talks with Friends Life FPL Ltd to repurchase the 30% stake held by Friends Life in the two joint ventures (JVs), namely AmLife Insurance Bhd (AmLife) and AmFamily Takaful Berhad (AmTakaful).
“The proposed repurchase allows both AMMB and Friends Life to pursue separate strategies to enhance our respective businesses. AMMB remains committed to the continued growth of AmLife and AmTakaful,” AMMB chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim said………………………………………..Full Article: Source