Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has successfully issued the world’s first Shari’ah- compliant hybrid tier 1 Sukuk and the region’s first publically issued perpetual and tier 1 instrument. This strategic transaction marks a key milestone for the global Islamic finance industry and a major and rare innovation by an Islamic bank.
The $1 billion perpetual non-call six-year issue was priced at an expected profit rate of 6.375 per cent, one of the lowest rates achieved for any perpetual instrument by a global bank………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gulf International Bank, majority owned by the Saudi Arabian government, has mandated banks to arrange a dollar-denominated bond, planned before the end of the month, four sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
Bahrain-based GIB picked itself, as well as JP Morgan Chase Inc, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Barclays Plc, Standard Chartered Plc and Societe Generale to arrange the deal, the sources said, requesting anonymity………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tilal Development Company, an Oman-based real estate firm, has reportedly approached the Sultanate’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) to raise funds by issuing the country’s first Sukuk.
“The company officials have unofficially approached us. We have no problem in granting them an approval to raise money by way of a Sukuk issue, once they are ready with the plan. They are yet to submit a formal application for the issue, CMA executive president Abdullah bin Salem Al Salmi said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

National Bank of Abu Dhabi is looking to take advantage of Asian appetite for yield with a rare subordinated sukuk in the Malaysian ringgit market. This comes with less than two months to go before Basel III standards render traditional Lower Tier 2 bonds obsolete.
The United Arab Emirates bank has been working on a potential ringgit-denominated sub bond for the last few weeks. If it comes to market, it will be the first Tier 2 sukuk from a foreign issuer in Malaysia………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group, is opening two new Islamic banks in Mali and Benin in 2013, to provide Islamic financial services in the areas currently greatly underserved, Khaled Al-Aboodi, chief executive officer and general manager of ICD , announced this week.
Al-Aboodi, who was speaking at the Islamic Banking Summit, also stated that it is planning to issue a $ 200 million sukuk for the government of Senegal to provide liquid Islamic products for Islamic banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Credit growth in the retail segment inclusive of housing loans of the six listed Omani banks together dropped considerably to 1.9 per cent in third quarter ending September 2012 compared to its average quarterly growth rate of 8 per cent during the previous three quarters.
“Personal loans including housing loans of the commercial banks grew at a lower rate compared to the corporate segment in Q3′12, against its higher relative growth in the preceding three quarters; the recent restrictions on personal loans by the Central Bank of Oman have impacted loan growth in the retail segment of banks in the third quarter”, says Suresh Kumar S, Research Head at Al Maha Financial Services………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced that it has achieved a net income of $183m in the first nine months of 2012, an increase of 10% on the net income achieved in the first nine months of 2011.
Similarly, statement of financial positions witnessed good increases. Total assets increased by 7%, investments and financing portfolio by 13%, deposits by 7% and total equity by 7% as at the end of September 2012 as compared with the end of December 2011. (Press Release)

Islamic finance is getting popular by the day across the Middle East and North Africa as transactions continue to grow despite the global economic crisis.
Despite not being financially strong as other gulf states in the region, Djibouti, since five years ago, has also been building its Islamic finance industry and it has accomplished setting up the legal and regulatory framework to accommodate Islamic banks in January 2011. Muslims account for 94% of the country’s population and Islamic banking has doubled in the East African country since its introduction………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sitting in a room full of energy bankers and lawyers one evening, I listened to an esteemed Ivy League professor explain how he was able to bridge two disparate academic fields on his way to becoming one of the pioneers of Islamic finance.
Working alongside respected Islamic theologians in order to convince a wealthy Muslim investor to put his money into a particular deal, the working team repeatedly hit walls in their efforts to reconcile the concepts of risk, credit, security, and cost of capital with the documented words and actions of the Prophet Mohammed. As a last resort, the professor and the scholars tossed out their case studies and scriptures and drew up a simple analogy:……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The global Islamic finance industry has witnessed phenomenal growth over the past decade, with the estimated asset size now exceeding $1 trillion. David McLean, Chief Executive of the World Islamic Banking Conference, said “the last several years has seen the international dimension of Islamic finance gaining tremendous significance as the industry continues to demonstrate its competitiveness and build scale in an increasingly globalized playing field.
The Islamic banking sector is undoubtedly well placed to play a vital role in facilitating cross-border financial flows particularly between the emerging economies which, in turn, stands to further increase the international participation in Islamic financial markets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt may struggle to meet its Islamic finance targets. The new Muslim Brotherhood government aims to boost the sharia-compliant share of total banking assets from 5 to 35 percent within five years.
The potential is undoubtedly big. Egypt is predominantly Muslim and only 10 percent of the 80 million people have bank accounts. But the rise of Islamic finance in Egypt might be slow. Hosni Mubarak, the long-time former president, didn’t hold back Islamic finance, although he didn’t encourage it either. However the nascent sector was badly tarnished in the 1990s by a series of investment scams………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic finance is supposedly synonymous with growth. As Islamic assets hit $1.3trillion and sukuk issuance reaches a new high, a skills shortage looms. Why, then, can’t those undertaking industry qualifications find work?
In Malaysia, the world’s largest Islamic finance centre, the industry is reportedly facing a massive shortfall of qualified professionals. Around 40,000 people will be needed to fill the roles by 2020 in Malaysia, according to its central bank, and another 17,000 in Indonesia in the next three to five years. The Kuala Lumpur-based International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance says it will launch new programmes to meet the demand………………………………………..Full Article: Source

National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) has launched Shariah compliant E-series products like E-Gold and E-Silver. Under this the retail investors can buy a minimum of 1 unit of gold equivalent to 1 gram of gold and 1 unit of silver equivalent to 100 grams of silver in demat form at real-time Indian prices.
TASIS (Taqwaa Advisory and Shariah Investment Solutions (P) Ltd), the premier Shariah Advisory Institution in the field of finance in India, granted Shariah certification to NSEL?s commodity investment products in gold, silver and copper called e-Series after a thorough study and scrutiny of NSEL systems and procedures. Thus NSEL is the first from India to offer e trading in compliance of Shariah………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Great Eastern Takaful Sdn Bhd (GETSB) is proud to introduce i-Great Teras, an affordable Family Takaful Term Plan that has been pecially designed to suit customer’s basic needs. From as low as RM25.00 per month, i-Great Teras is envisioned to be the solution in alleviating our lifestyle as it assists us to better manage our financial needs.
“According to Malaysia Department of Statistic, over 5 years, the average of Malaysian’s monthly household expenditure has soared by 88.6 per cent to RM2,190 in 2009/10 from RM1,160 in 1993/94. This shows that Malaysians have been burdened with high expenditure which potentially leads to personal or business financing debts in their day to day needs. i-Great Teras will be the solution for this, with its flexibility to serve every financial need,” Great Eastern Takaful’s appointed representative & chief financial officer, Zafri Ab Halim remarked………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Amãna Takaful, one of the fastest growing composite insurers in Sri Lanka, recently declared open a new office premise in Hambantota, the bastion of development in the South. The move strengthens the company’s presence in the South already having its offices situated in Galle and Matara. The Branch was ceremonially declared open by M. Shaheed Usuph, President, Chamber of Commerce-Hambantota.
The move to Hambantota by Amãna Takaful is meant to support the development taking place in the area. The branch will provide tailor made insurance solutions to the people who are going through rapid economic progress in the region………………………………………..Full Article: Source