While India’s current legal framework on lending is interest-based, Islamic finance is founded on participatory finance that entails sharing of profit or loss. If the profit earned is less than expected cash flows, then a smaller profit pool is shared — a mechanism that can lower the cost of capital. The RBI governor recently said that laws have to be amended before one goes about allowing such products.
Advocates of Islamic finance think it’s no big deal and one need not go through the rigmarole of standing committees and parliamentary proceedings — if the central bank can use its powers to let commercial banks open a new window. Other countries, even a few not particularly sensitive to Islamic sensibilities, have gone ahead with it. That’s because they sensed that any leading financial centre should be open to various investment possibilities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Syariah Mandiri, the Islamic unit of Bank Mandiri, is set to sell shares in an initial public offering next year, with aims to raise more than Rp 1 trillion ($103 million). BSM’s capital debut next year would make it the first Islamic lender to list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).
“We are still working on it. More Islamic banks will undergo IPOs next year, and BSM is too,” chief executive Yuslam Fauzi said in Jakarta………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oman’s new Islamic banking rules could encourage the development of a larger pool of Shariah scholars and ultimately help to raise operating standards for them around the world, according to bankers and scholars.
Last month, the sultanate’s central bank released an extensive Islamic banking rulebook which included provisions for Shariah scholars, such as fit-and-proper criteria and term limits on scholars’ appointment to Shariah boards, which decide whether products and activities obey Islamic principles………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Supreme Court’s 1999 verdict on Riba (interest) was a historic and landmark development, not only for Pakistan, but for the whole world. While a review petition was pending since long, there seems to be little scope for any major alteration. The judgement was so sound, comprehensive and lucid in argument that it has very little room, if any, for review.
It has been kept pending for almost a decade and no date has been fixed for its hearing. The verdict needs to be implemented in letter and spirit to establish a comprehensive economic system based on Islamic teachings………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has picked banks to arrange a benchmark-sized Islamic bond, or sukuk, two banking sources told Reuters on Thursday.
The state-owned utility has picked Standard Chartered , Citigroup, RBS and local lenders Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, the sources said. Benchmark bonds are typically at least $500 million in size………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) announced on Thursday the listing of two debt issues for the Government of Dubai with a total value of $1.250 billion with effect on Wednesday January 30, 2013.
The first issue is a $750 million 10-year Sukuk which matures in 2023, whilst the second is a $500 million 30-year bond that matures in 2043. In addition to these two issues, DFM currently lists five bond issues and four Sukuk issues for the Government of Dubai………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tamweel , the UAE Islamic home finance provider, announced that it had repaid in full a $300 million five-year Sukuk, which matured in January 2013. This announcement follows the recent successful settlement by the company of its $210 million home finance asset-backed security issued in 2007.
In line with its long term funding strategy, Tamweel issued the Sukuk in early 2008. The proceeds were used for general Islamic financing and corporate purposes………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tharawat Investment House (Tharawat), an Islamic investment institution based in Bahrain, announced 5.06 per cent profit return on its Tharawat Sukuk Fund for the second half of 2012.
It achieved a total return of 9.44pc for the year. That represents a cumulative return of 21.98pc since its inception in February 2010. Tharawat will be distributing 4pc for the period from July to December 2012, making it the sixth distribution. Tharawat Sukuk Fund is the company’s first open-ended Sharia-compliant investment product based in Bahrain………………………………………..Full Article: Source

High profile Shari’ah advisory Dar Al Istithmar, which advised Goldman Sachs on its ill-fated $2 billion Sukuk programme, has closed down with most of its staff joining another firm. Most of Dar Al Istithmar’s staff have moved to Khalij Islamic, an Islamic investment boutique with offices in London and Dubai, reported Reuters.
A rift was said to develop last year between staff and shareholders. “Dar actually stopped conducting advisory business in June,” EuroWeek quotes one source as saying. “There was a difference of opinion on the future direction of the firm between shareholders and management.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Emirates airline, Dubai’s flagship carrier, launched a $750 million 12-year amortising bond on Thursday, with final pricing due later in the day, arranging banks said.
The bond, which matures in 2025 but carries an average life of seven years, launched at 300 basis points over seven-year midswaps, at the wider end of guidance released on Wednesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Governments and companies in the Middle East are jumping on the bond bandwagon to take advantage of a wave of cheap credit and lock in lower interest payments. Jordan is preparing for an international bond launch this year, the prime minister Abdullah Ensour told Bloomberg News this month, having passed a law last year paving the way for sovereign sukuk sales.
Jordan was in need of international funding to close a yawning deficit that has grown worse after the Arab Spring, said Mathias Angonin, an associate analyst at Moody’s Investors Service………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Great news for investors looking for better returns: sharemarket superstar Trevor Rowe has been appointed to the advisory board of Islamic funds manager Crescent Wealth.
Rowe, AO, the chairman of former Nicholas Bolton plaything BrisConnections, is a well-known figure in the boardrooms of Australia. Among other things he is executive chairman of Rothschild Australia and chairman of UGL, as well as being a former chairman of the Queensland Investment Corporation and of ASX………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Public Mutual Bhd has declared distributions ranging from 1.25 sen per unit to 5.0 sen for four of its funds in their financial year ending Jan 31, 2013. It had on Thursday said the gross distribution per unit for the Public Index Fund and Public Enhanced Bond Fund was 5.0 sen per unit.
For the Public Money Market Fund, it was 2.50 sen per unit and for the Public Islamic Optimal Growth Fund 1.25 sen per unit. Public Islamic Optimal Growth Fund is an Islamic equity fund focusing on income and capital growth by investing in Shariah-compliant stocks. It focuses on stocks with attractive dividend yields and growth stocks in the domestic market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates NBD, UAE’s biggest lender by assets, reported a 3 per cent growth in its annual net profits to Dh2.6 billion in 2012, compared to Dh2.5 billion recorded in 2011.
Its total income also rose 3 per cent to Dh10.2 billion while operating profit before impairments rose by 2 per cent to Dh6.5 billion from 2011. Its total assets increased by 8 per cent at Dh308.3 billion at the end of 2012 compared with Dh284.6 billion at the end of 2011, it said in a release on Thursday. The company declared cash dividend of 25 per cent per share………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ever since its inception, the banking sector has been playing an important role in the development of world economy. However over the past few years the conventional banking practices in most countries of the world has suffered mainly due to global recession. Notably the Islamic Banks i.e. the financial institutions following the Islamic system of financing has remained immune to this downturn.
The main challenge faced by the emerging economies of Asia and Africa has been surging inflation generally called increase in prices of essential commodities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Used by more than 150 banks and financial institutions, the SAB AT banking software package counts a new operational reference since the end of January. Maurisbank, who chose SAB Group in late November 2012, has just started its activity successfully with the SAB AT software package, within the specified timespan.
Maurisbank is a new Mauritanian bank offering a range of Islamic Finance services to up-market private and company clients………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Durban-based Al Baraka Bank is moving into the commercial banking market with the launch of a full international foreign exchange service. “We are one of only 24 institutions in South Africa that will be offering this complete product bouquet in international banking,” the bank’s GM for international banking, Mohammed Kaka, said on Wednesday.
The Islamic bank has been an “authorised dealer with limited authority” for retail foreign exchange, offering to purchase and sell foreign bank notes to clients at 0% commission, since 2008………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oman Arab Bank (OAB) announced the launch of an independent Islamic banking services unit under the brand name ‘Al Yusr’ recently. OAB aims to launch its Islamic operations with five branches across the major cities of Oman during 2013, a press release said.
Commenting on the launch of the new Islamic banking serv-ices, Abdul Kader Askalan, CEO of OAB, said, “It is my pleasure to be announcing Al Yusr, our dedicated Islamic banking Unit. We are confident that Al Yusr will provide customers with an avenue to be true to their beliefs while offering all the advantages of world class banking.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kingdom Holding Co, the international investment firm of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has formed a syariah board of prominent scholars in order to raise more of its funding through Islamic finance.
The decision by one of the most prominent investment firms from the Gulf is likely to be seen as a boost to the Islamic finance industry, which obeys religious principles such as bans on interest payments and pure monetary speculation. “The syariah committee was established to study the gradual conversion of future sources for loans for the company to be sharia-compliant,” Kingdom said in a brief statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source