Many advocates of Islamic banking suggest using gold as a replacement for the money created through the interest rate mechanism. This is an interesting proposition, especially in the context of Malaysia where the state of Kelantan has already started using gold and silver coins as a potential replacement for the federally issued legal tender of currency notes and coins.
It is important to assess its economic implications with respect to growth and overall economic activity in the country. Americans find it difficult, and painful, to revert to the gold standard for reasons peculiar to the US economy, but these limitations are not relevant to Malaysia………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Mark Mobius, one of the world’s most well-known emerging market investors, is getting into Islamic finance, highlighting the sector’s growing attraction as a mainstream asset class. Mobius will lead the Templeton Shariah Asian Growth Fund, one of three sharia-compliant products that is to be launched at the end of this month by investment house Franklin Templeton.
Islamic finance conforms with sharia law, meaning charging interest on debt and investing in companies dealing in certain products, such as alcohol, gambling and pork, are forbidden………………………………………..Full Article: Source

For now, the RBI has ruled out the possibility of Islamic banking in India unless existing laws are amended. But worldwide, Islamic banking is one of the fastest growing financial sectors with current global Shariah-compliant banking assets estimated at $1,166 billion, up from $1,086 billion in 2011.
Since the launch of the first Islamic bank in the 60s, the model has gained a lot of traction in countries with significant Muslim communities. But the UK, with a Muslim community representing 3 percent of the population, is ranked ninth globally with Shariah-compliant assets of $19 billion that surpass even predominantly Muslim countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic banking, which follows Sharia requirements and does not allow interest to be charged, could be introduced as an option in India, officials there say. The ruling coalition, led by the Congress Party, has made “financial inclusion” a key item on its agenda.
Many of India’s 177 million Muslims, who constitute the nation’s largest and most influential minority, are outside the banking system, and the authorities would like to change this situation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The assets of Islamic banks in Qatar rose to QR195bn at the end of 2012 compared to QR8.8bn 10 years ago, HE the Governor of the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Sheikh Abdullah bin Soud al-Thani has said. The central bank governor said the assets of Islamic banks represented 23.8% the total assets of the banking sector, up from 14% back in 2002.
Deposits in Islamic banks represented 26.6% of the deposits in the banking sector, he said. Islamic banks have a total of QR121.6bn in deposits. Profits of Islamic banks jumped to QR3.8bn during the same period, Sheikh Abdullah added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB), the country’s first independent Shariah-compliant bank regulated by QFC Regulatory Authority, has re-branded itself and announced that it has changed its name to Qatar First Bank (QFB). QFIB’s new identity was revealed at a reception attended by top government officials, CEOs of leading Qatari Institutions and family businesses; shareholders and leading business minds.
The management’s decision to re-brand the bank is followed by its upgrade to a Category 5 license back in 2010, which would allow the bank to broaden its product offering. The decision also reflects the bank’s strategic evolution of its business model………………………………………..Full Article: Source

CBO has allowed Bank Nizwa to invest up to 75 per cent of its net worth in Islamic instruments outside Oman for the first six months. As the sultanate is a new entrant into Islamic banking it does not have Islamic instruments like sukuk or other short-term liquidity management tools in which Islamic banks can invest their excess liquidity.
When asked about the extent to which Islamic banks and windows are allowed to invest excess liquidity outside Oman, H E Hamood Sangour al Zadjali, executive president of CBO, said, “We are according some flexibility to banks to invest some of their excess liquidity in Islamic instruments outside Oman.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic banking is making steady progress in the Sultanate since the promulgation of the Royal Decree No. 69/2012. It has a promising future, said HH Sayyid Shihab Bin Tariq Al Said, His Majesty’s Adviser.
Although the Islamic banking industry is still in the initial stage, it has resulted in remarkable activity in the banking sector, said CBO Executive President HE Hamoud Bin Sangour Al Zadjali. It has forced many licensed commercial banks to increase their capitals to open independent Islamic windows to operate alongside with the two licensed Islamic banks, he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Affin Islamic Bank targets its financing segment to expand by between 10 per cent and 15 per cent this year, compared with 17 per cent last year. Its chief executive officer Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Jamil said the growth last year was in tandem with the robust performance of the country’s Islamic banking industry.
Last year, Affin Islamic’s pre-tax profit was RM106.4 million, which translated to a 42.1 per cent growth. Kamarul said the strong growth of Islamic finance was not limited to Malaysia, but covers the region and Affin Islamic is “always keen to expand regionally”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Agrobank plans to fully implement Islamic banking by 2015 as part of its transformation programme, with all its existing financing products and deposits to be changed to syariah-compliant products.
“This will contribute to the growth of domestic Islamic banking and at the same time encourage ethical banking practices,” president and CEO Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman said at the presentation of the bank’s zakat contribution of RM30,000 by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin here today to 300 eligible recipients in the district including orphans………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Investment Corporation of Dubai, the emirate’s main state-owned holding company, said it plans to raise $2 billion from a syndicated loan to refinance debt.
The facility will include both conventional and Islamic portions and have a tenor of five years, the company, known as ICD, said in an e-mailed statement today. The funds will go toward repaying the $2 billion five-year portion of an original $6 billion loan raised in August 2008, ICD said. That facility’s $4 billion three-year tranche was settled in August 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Strong investor demand supported by improving liquidity is expected to boost both issuance and performance of sukuk this year, according to rating agency Standard & Poor’s.
“Global issuance expanded for the fourth year in a row in 2012, growing 64 per cent to about $138 billion, and we expect another strong few years,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Paul-Henri Pruvost. While sukuk is still considered an alternative investment, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services believes it has the potential to grow and join the mainstream fixed income universe………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Shura Council under Dr. Ahmed Fahmy agreed on Sunday 17/3/2013 the Sukuk (Islamic bonds) bill. The meeting stirred a new showdown between the Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi Al Nour Party during the Shura Council’s debates as Al Nour Party insisted on referring Sukuk bill to Al Azhar’s senior ulemas body.
Salafi Al-Nour Party MP and head of its parliamentary bloc Abdullah Badran called for amending the bill’s title to “Islamic Sukuk.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Al Hilal Bank is likely to issue Dh1.8 billion ($500 million) sukuk (Islamic bond) in Q2 or Q3 of 2013, Mohammad Berro, CEO of Al HIlal Bank, told Gulf News. “We will be issuing suku worth $500 million and most probably in Q2 or Q3 of 2013,” said Berro.
He said that the bank, wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, an investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi, has 11 per cent of the Islamic finance market share in the UAE………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical, launched an Islamic bond sale that could raise at least $1.4 billion to finance a large petrochemical complex in the east of the kingdom. The $19.3bn facility, located at Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, will be the world’s largest chemical complex ever built in a single phase.
Sadara may increase the size of the planned sukuk to $2.5bn depending on market demand, it said in a prospectus for the sale, adding if the company raises more than $1.4bn other sources of financing will be adjusted accordingly………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Gulf region’s largest utility company, Saudi Electricity Co has chosen two banks to schedule meetings with fixed income investors from Europe and North America for possible debt agreements. The banks chosen were Deutsche Bank and HSBC Holdings.
The meetings would be considered as road shows, with the first to be held on March 19 in Los Angeles, CA and would end in London, UK by March 25 of this year. After these road shows, a dollar denominated bond issue would then follow depending on market conditions………………………………………..Full Article: Source