Dubai aims to become a top global centre for Islamic bonds by introducing more detailed standards that ensure issuance and trading obey not only the letter but also the spirit of Islamic rules, a securities market official said.
The emirate hopes the new standards will reduce disputes between scholars, issuers and investors over what types of debt structures are permissible and attract more business to its market. Mabid Ali Al-Jarhi, a member of the board overseeing Islamic business at Dubai Financial Market(DFM), said the rules would provide assurances for sukuk holders and traders…………………………………..Full Article: Source

The new source of power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands of many, says John Naisbitt, best-selling author and futurist. But, what do we know about sukuk? It’s often described as a bond, but it’s not a conventional bond. It is often described with pride and a sense of accomplishment for its issuance (in the case of Malaysia) and the London Stock Exchange for its listing.
The sukuk is the foundation of investment vehicles like today’s sukuk funds, and, hopefully, tomorrow’s sukuk exchange-traded funds. It has encountered defaults, bankruptcies, and restructurings. It has become the alter ego of debt capital market bias, Islamic finance…………………………………..Full Article: Source

AmInvestment Bank Bhd was named the best domestic bond house in Malaysia by The Asset magazine in its Triple A Country Awards 2012 for the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time since 2006.
The Asset Triple A Country Awards is Asia’s defining recognition for excellence in the industry. Point scores for both quantitative and qualitative factors were combined in the determination of the winners…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has picked banks to arrange a benchmark-sized Islamic bond, or sukuk, two banking sources have told Reuters.
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 $500m in size…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gulf Installments Company has been established to provide Shari’ah-compliant installment and lease financing with a focus on small and medium sized enterprises. Saudi Arabian small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 90 per cent of all Saudi businesses but receive only two per cent of bank lending
In Saudi Arabia, Gulf Installments Company aims to replicate the financial success of SHUAA’s UAE SME financing subsidiary, Gulf Finance Company…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has signed a QR800mn financing deal with NBK Holding. The signing ceremony was held at NBK Holding’s headquarters and was attended by Sheikh Nawaf Nasser bin Khaled al-Thani, chairman and CEO of NBK Holding, and Ahmad Meshari, acting chief executive officer of QIB .
HE Sheikh Nawaf said: “The financing agreement with QIB will enable NBK to move forward with its ambitious expansion plans. NBK Holding’s subsidiaries have significantly contributed to the Qatari private sector and the company’s strategy is to continue its pioneering role in the economic growth of Qatar…………………………………..Full Article: Source

The revised screening methodology for shariah-compliant securities, to come into force in November 2013, could not only make for a more “stable” shariah-compliant securities list but also a shorter one, as it looks to screen companies not only based on income from activities but also on debt and cash in its balance sheet.
As at November 2012, 817 or 89% of the total 923 companies on Bursa Malaysia are shariah-compliant. While not many, there have been cases of companies going in and out of the shariah list, as it exceeds existing revenue and pre-tax profit contribution thresholds accepted under the screening methodology…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Economists in Yemen have for several years now encouraged the state to move away from its dependency on oil and gas revenues to explore other avenues which would generate national growth and sustain economic development.
Many foresee that the financial sector and more particularly, the Islamic finance sector would prove a fructuous venture for a country such as Yemen where tradition and Islamic values are more prominent. Nathan Giliano, a professor of Economics in Vancouver, Canada explained that over the past few years - since the world economy so famously land-slided on Wall Street slope - Islamic financial products had grown in popularity across the Arab world and its emerging economies…………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic financial system has grown tremendously over the last 40 years, says Dr Hatim El Tahir, Director, Islamic Finance Group, for Deloitte and Touche. “The total size of the Islamic insurance industry is US$1.3 trillion which is still small compared to the international financial market. In 1973 it was only US1$ billion,” he said on Thursday night during his contribution to a seminar on Islamic Banking hosted by the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at the National Academy Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port-of-Spain.
The seminar was attended by members of the local Muslim community as well as other stakeholders including PSA president Watson Duke…………………………………..Full Article: Source

It may still be ‘too early’ to gauge the full impact of the events that led to regime change across much of the Arab world and are still being played out in Syria and elsewhere. It is, however, clear that one beneficiary is the Islamic finance sector. Unmet economic need was one of the key triggers for the protests. New governments in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt are now moving to embed Shari’ah-compliant finance into their economic systems.
For example, on 29 September 2012, plans were revealed in Tunisia to issue Sukuk early this year. Reuters reported Chadli Avari, Governor of the Banque Centrale de Tunisie, as saying “Tunisia will begin issuing Islamic bonds early next year … This is part of the draft budget for 2013.”………………………………….Full Article: Source

Following the successful launch of its Al Hilal Islamic Banking Services with the opening of five dedicated branches in Samail, Saham, Bahla, Rustaq and Muscat, and a sixth branch set to open soon in Salalah, Ahlibank is confident that Islamic banking will be a great success in Oman.
Abdul Aziz al Balushi, chief executive officer of Ahlibank, said that depending on the actual requirements, the bank may convert some of the existing conventional branches to Islamic banking ones or may even open more new Islamic banking branches. “The primary objective for this year is to really establish credibility by educating people about what Islamic banking is by explaining to them how true and transparent we are to clear people’s negative perception about Islamic banking,” he said…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Group, a unit of the emirate’s ruler’s personal investment firm currently restructuring US$6bn in debt, saw an offer of 18.5 cents for every dollar rejected in favour of full repayment over a 12-year period by around 20 banks, Bloomberg reported.
The 20 banks were part of a group of lenders that had provided the investment firm a US$1.5bn Islamic murabaha loan in 2008. The offer was extended to the banks after earlier being accepted by a separate group of four lenders, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered, which recently dropped arbitration proceedings against Dubai Group…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Despite the critical ebb and flow in global financial markets these past three years, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has managed to stem the tide and register a tangible GDP growth of 5.3 percent in 2012, Alternative Investment Strategy 2013 report released Sunday through Al Masah Capital Limited, said.
Bearing in mind the eurozone debt crisis, the easing of economic activity in China and a slew of fiscal downturns hitting the US, this is a hugely positive sign. In 2013, the rate is expected to be even more impressive with many of the MENA countries allocating huge sums for public expenditure as compared to 2012…………………………………..Full Article: Source