The Ministry of Finance’s head of the Public Debt Unit, Samy Khallaf, declared that a preliminary agreement has been reached with 10 international investment banks to carry out the procedures of issuing the first Egyptian Islamic Sukuk in international markets. The value of the projected Sukuk, Khallafa dded, would range from $750 million to $1 billion, reported Al-Borsa newspaper on Wednesday.
Khallafa added that the move is tied to IMF approval of the $4.8 billion loan which the Egyptian government has requested. Yet, the Ministry has not disclosed any further details regarding the agreement, nor any information regarding projects which the government plan to fund through Sukuk………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Turkish Airlines, Europe’s third largest airline by passenger traffic, is considering issuing an Islamic bond, or sukuk, to finance the purchase of aircraft as the carrier expands its fleet two-fold over the coming ten years, the operator’s CEO Temel Kotil said.
“It could be within a one-year period,” Kotil said when asked if the airline would seek to finance its plane purchases with sukuk and when it may issue the bonds. “We didn’t make a decision yet - we’re checking the market to see who is cheaper. When you order these kinds of machines its multibillion of course.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The total sukuk issuance in Malaysia amounted to RM219.4bil during the first eight months of 2012 against RM120.7bil in the previous corresponding period, contributed in part by the largest issuance to date of RM30.6bil by Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Bhd.
Securities Commission (SC) executive director Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin said 2012 witnessed encouraging performance of the Islamic capital market and the sukuk segment was set to register another record year in terms of total issuance value………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The World Bank and the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have signed a three-year agreement to share expertise in Islamic finance and study how it can help economies develop.
The IDB, with 56 member countries, provides financing, loans and technical assistance for development schemes which follow Islamic principles, such as a ban on interest payments and pure monetary speculation………………………………………..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

With the gap between Islamic and conventional banking solutions narrowing substantially, and due to the fast development of the Islamic banking industry, Muslim high net worth individuals are increasingly expecting Shariah compliance in managing their wealth, making Islamic wealth management solutions a key market need, Standard Chartered Private Bank has observed.
In the UAE, Islamic banking assets would grow to 20 per cent of the total banking sector in 2012 from an estimated 18 per cent in 2011, a banking expert has mentioned. According to recent data of Bloomberg, Global sales of Shariah-compliant bonds jumped to US$36 billion this year, just shy of 2011’s full-year record of US$36.7 billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Chief Executive officer of AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics, Mr. Zubair Mughal said that poverty is not only the problem of Pakistan but a global issue. In fact, the declaration of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by United Nations to cut down the poverty to half till 2015 seems unachievable because the poverty is continuously increasing.
He said that one of the major reasons of no reduction in poverty is to follow wrong strategies. He further said that it is an alarming situation that poverty is continuously increasing in Muslim World and 46% of world’s poverty exists in Muslim countries and almost one-half of the 56 IDB member countries in Asia and Africa are classed as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by United Nations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It is better to have a slower growth rate due to relatively restrictive regulations than to suffer a ‘subprime’ crisis. There are reports that Islamic finance players want a balanced regulatory framework that does not hamper the industry’s growth.
But Adil Ahmad, former CEO of Kuwait International Bank, says the industry is growing at a very healthy rate of 15-20% per annum, so the regulations can’t be all that restrictive………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Banking is a business where depositors are normally free to deposit and withdraw their savings according to their preferences and financial plans. This unpredictability of behaviour put the managers under intense pressure and requires high level of skill to achieve optimality of resources at hand.
Traditionally banks manage their liquidity by investing in short term interest based securities which is not the cup of tea for an Islamic banking. Funds must emanate from a Shariah-compliant source and they need to be taken up by a Shariah-compliant source. In some places, there is no infrastructure in place to ensure that the funds are ‘clean’ Shariah-compliant. Islamic banking industry including Islamic banking windows face seriously the challenge of shortage in liquidity management instruments………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The government expects to privatize Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines (AAIIBP), the only bank in the country authorized to offer Islamic banking services, in a year as two Middle Eastern banking institutions are seriously in their acquisition bid.
AAIIBP, now a subsidiary of Development Bank of the Philippines, has been put on sale by the government for a year already. Trade and Industry undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio revealed that Al-Amanah is one banking institution in the country that Middle Eastern investment banking companies are looking into………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the Gulf state’s second-largest lender by market value, posted an 3.5 percent drop in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday as a big jump in provisions impacted quarterly earnings.
The bank made a net profit of QAR393.1m (US$108m) in the three months to September 30, compared with QAR407.2m in the same period a year ago, according to Reuters calculations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) said on Wednesday that its net profit during the first nine months of 2012 rose 2 per cent on year to Dh208.7 million. In the corresponding period last year, SIB’s net profit stood at Dh204.7 million, the Sharia-compliant bank said in a statement.
“The balance sheet grew since December 2011, with total assets reaching Dh17.9 billion compared with Dh17.7 billion, a 1 per cent rise,” SIB said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi-based Union National Bank (UNB) said on Wednesday its fiscal third quarter net profit rose 7.1 per cent on the year to Dh532 million while the profit for the first nine months this year rose to Dh1.4 billion from Dh1.3 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.
“The increase in operating income was due to an increase in net interest income and net income from Islamic financing which rose to Dh1.9 billion from Dh1.7 billion in the correspnding period a year earlier,” said UNB………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Etiqa Takaful Bhd sees vast opportunities to expand its business as only 47 per cent of the population are insured. Etiqa Insurance and Takaful chief commercial officer, Shahril Azuar Jimin, said many Malaysians still did not have any kind of insurance coverage.
“The insurance penetration rate here is still low, especially among the Bumiputera community, where only 11 per cent are covered,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source