Islamic banking assets with commercial banks in the GCC reached $ 445 billion at the end of 2012, up from $ 390 billion in 2011, with the outlook for the industry remaining relatively positive in 2013. This represents a 14 percent year-on-year growth, which is considerably lower than the five-year average of 19 percent.
According to estimates by Ernst & Young’s Global Islamic Banking Center, Qatar was the fastest growing market where Islamic banking assets are expected to have grown by more than 23 percent during 2012. While Islamic banking assets with commercial banks in the GCC grew by 14 percent in 2012, conventional banking assets grew by only 8.1 percent — indicating the relative resilience and potential of the industry………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai’s government-owned commodities centre is launching a sharia-compliant commodity trading platform which Islamic banks in the Gulf could use to manage their short-term fund flows.
The Tradeflow platform developed by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) allows trading of warehouse receipts, which represent ownership of commodities stored at warehouses. Islamic banks cannot use conventional interbank money markets because of Islam’s ban on interest, so they have struggled with a shortage of instruments to manage liquidity………………………………………..Full Article: Source

International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp., backed by a group of central banks located in Asia and the Middle East, is in the “final stages” of issuing its first sukuk or Islamic bond, Malaysian central bank governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said on Wednesday.
Kuala Lumpur-headquartered IILM, established in 2010, was entasked to issue short-term sukuk, or Islamic bonds, to help sharia-compliant banks manage liquidity and create a liquid cross-border market for Islamic instruments. “The shareholders (of IILM) are in the process of supplying the underlying assets for the sukuk,” Zeti told reporters in the Malaysian capital. “There will be an announcement on this in the near term, it would be correct to say that it is in the final stages.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group, rang the opening bell at Dubai Financial Market (DFM) during the listing ceremony of a sukuk issued by Emirates Airline on Nasdaq Dubai, the Middle East’s international financial exchange.
The listing of the $ 1 billion sukuk supports Dubai’s intensive efforts in this regard after the launch of (Dubai the Center of Sukuk) initiative by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minster and Ruler of Dubai and in line with his vision to position Dubai as the capital of Islamic economy globally………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The future of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, is bright and Dubai has potential to become the world’s top sukuk market in coming years, a top official of Dubai Financial Market said.
“The outlook for sukuk market is good as its demand is very strong compared to conventional bonds. We are confident about the success of the sukuk market in Dubai,” Essa Kazim, managing director and chief executive of Dubai Financial Market (DFM), told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the listing ceremony of Emirates airline’s sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai on Wednesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Nasdaq Dubai will “easily” become the world’s largest sukuk market by next year, acting CEO Hamed Ali said. Billions of dollars worth of sukuk – Sharia compliant Islamic bonds - are expected to be listed on the Nasdaq this year and in 2014, helping to propel it from being the third largest sukuk market globally to the first.
“If we consider the activities expected in the market this year and next year we can easily become number one within the coming one to two years,” Ali said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is not expecting to issue more Islamic bonds before 2015 if electricity demand growth in the Gulf Arab emirate remains steady, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
“According to cash flow, there will be no additional sukuk or (conventional) bonds (in 2013). I do not think we are going to target sukuk next year, except if (electricity consumption) growth changes to 10 percent or growth targets change,” Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, has been subscribed by 205%. Subscriptions worth BD41m were received for the BD20m issue, which carries a maturity of 182 days.
The expected return on the issue, which begins on 21 March 2013 and matures on 19 September 2013, is 0.95% compared to 1.10% the last issue. The Sukuk Al-Ijara are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, rang the bell for listing Emirates airlines sukuk worth $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) on NASDAQ Dubai on Wednesday morning.
Shaikh Ahmad told media: “Utilising the Islamic financing, sukuk, is to encourage Islamic economy and confirm our support to the initiative of Dubai becoming the world capital of Islamic economy.” “The sukuk issued for multi-purposes, one of these is to finance the upcoming aircraft purchasing deals,” he added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Mark Mobius is lined up to manage a Shariah-compliant Asian Growth Fund, one of a trio to be launched by Franklin Templeton.
The funds, which include the first ever Ucits-structured, Shariah-compliant fund Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk (bond) Fund, will opened to international investors on March 25th. The firm is bringing the funds to market in response to growing interest in Shariah-compliant investment products………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Economy Higher Committee will create legal bodies to certify the Islamic products in Dubai by the end of this year. However this will be left optional, the Committee’s member and Director General of Dubai Department of Economic Development, Sami Al Qamzi, told Gulf News.
By the end of this year, the Islamic Economy Higher Committee will come out with a unified Islamic legislation to help encourage and support Islamic products in the emirate as well as to encourage the initiative of Dubai becoming the world capital of Islamic economy, he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A fund management venture set up in Dubai this month is taking aim at one of the great backwaters of the Middle Eastern economy: Islamic endowments, which control tens of billions of dollars of assets around the region.
The endowments, known as awqaf, receive donations from Muslims to operate specific social projects, such as mosques, schools and welfare schemes. The system goes back more than a thousand years, to soon after the birth of Islam………………………………………..Full Article: Source

SEDCO Capital, the Saudi Arabia-based asset manager and leading provider of Sharia compliant investment solutions, has launched a one-stop shop investment platform of Sharia compliant funds to qualified and authorised institutional investors.
Investors can now access a total of seven investment funds with total assets under management exceeding $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) on the recently launched SEDCO Capital Global Funds, which is now one of the world’s largest and most diverse Sharia compliant funds platform………………………………………..Full Article: Source

AlHuda Centre for Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) has initiated its operation with the brand name of “AlHuda CIBE Uganda” in East African country, Uganda. Together with Uganda, other countries of East Africa e.g. Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania etc can also be catered, where a huge Muslim population and the demand of Islamic banking already exists.
Hence, Islamic Banking and Finance can flourish in those countries promptly. It is also noteworthy that Uganda, whose population is more than 36 million with 14 per cent Muslims, is an important country in East Africa………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR-AAA) this week hosted a high-level roundtable discussion in association with industry experts in Bahrain to explore best practices in the field of dispute resolution in Islamic Finance.
The roundtable, focused on Islamic Finance Dispute Resolution Issues, was moderated by James MacPherson, CEO of the BCDR-AAA. The discussion forms part of a series of events hosted and conducted by the Chamber in order gauge stakeholder insight and opinion of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services available in Bahrain and the wider region………………………………………..Full Article: Source

BSE Institute Ltd. and Taqwaa Advisory & Shariah Investment Solutions (TASIS) today jointly launched an online certificate on “Islamic Banking, Finance & Capital Market”. Islamic Banking & Finance is fast emerging as a specialized area of finance.
To address the need of this industry BSE Institute Ltd. and TASIS have conducted workshops in the past and have now decided to launch a full online certification. Primarily, the certification aims at improved financial inclusion through increased financial literacy. Since India is yet to approve Islamice finance in the country, certification program is directed towards employment in the overseas financial markets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic banking will triple itself in ten years and it holds further substantial opportunities for Turkey, but there are still margins for growth, a report says. The Turkish Islamic banking sector will triple in 10 years reaching $100 billion by 2023, while the country would have even more potential if it would meet the foreign demand by offering more of a variety of Islamic financial instrument, an Ernst & Young report has said.
Islamic banking, which follows the requirements of Shaira and does not charge interest, has emerged as a prominent system at a time when European banks that have been the backbone of global sector are only slightly recovering from the aftermath of the financial crisis………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Total assets in the Islamic banking sector grew 13.8 per cent, accounting for 23.8 per cent of total assets in the overall banking system last year, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

In its Financial Stability and Payment Systems Report, the central bank said, as Malaysia’s Islamic financial system transitions to become more international in orientation, the volume of foreign currency business, including those conducted by the International Islamic Banks and International Currency Business Units, has increased over the years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Muscat shareholders yesterday granted approval for raising the authorised capital of the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate from RO 250 million to RO 350 million, with a nominal value of 100 Baisa each.
The extra-ordinary general meeting of shareholders also approved to increase the issued share capital from RO 203,851,068 divided into (2,038,510,684) shares to RO 215,226,068 divided into (2,152,260,684) shares with a nominal value of 100 Baisa each………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic assets in Qatar’s commercial banking industry rose 23% year-on-year in 2012, outgrowing the Gulf banking industry’s growth of 14%, according to Ernst and Young (E&Y). “Qatar was the fastest growing market where Islamic banking assets are expected to have grown by more than 23% during 2012,” E&Y said in a latest report.
Islamic banking assets with commercial banks in the Gulf region grew only 14% year-on-year to $445bn in 2012, but the growth was considerably lower than the five-year average of 19%, it said, adding those in the conventional banking grew only 8.1%, indicating the relative resilience and potential of the industry………………………………………..Full Article: Source

CIMB Equities Research is maintaining its Outperform recommendation on Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) based on the positive growth prospects in the region. It said on Wednesday despite being one of the largest Islamic banking players, Maybank Islamic still sees ample opportunities for growth locally and abroad.
Indonesia is still underpenetrated and there are opportunities to expand into South Asia or even Hong Kong and China………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Morocco’s central bank has started talks with a body of Islamic scholars on establishing a central Shariah board to oversee the country’s fledgling Islamic finance industry, a central bank official said.
The board, composed of scholars and financial experts, would rule on whether instruments and activities complied with Shariah principles. Its creation would be a step towards establishing full-fledged Islamic banks in Morocco………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Negara is liberalising the foreign exchange administration rules to enhance the economy’s competitiveness and further develop the domestic financial market. The liberalising measures will only come into effect around mid-2013 when the Financial Services Act (FSA) and Islamic Financial System Act (IFSA) come into force.
The measures include allowing residents to freely invest in onshore foreign currency-denominated assets to spur the domestic foreign exchange market through greater demand for foreign currency products and services………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Capinnova Investment Bank, the Sharia-compliant investment banking arm of BBK, yesterday announced it has exited its investment in Oasis Mall, having earned 37 per cent total return on invested capital.
Oasis Mall is the largest retail mall in Muharraq and in June 2009 was the bank’s debut transaction in the retail sector. The development was worth $18.6 million………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The BSE Institute, in association with Taqwaa Advisory and Shariah Investment Solutions (TASIS), has devised an online certification programme in `Islamic banking, finance and capital markets’.
Islamic banking and finance is fast-emerging as a specialised area of finance and has already made its presence in over 75 countries with assets under it close to USD 1.5 trillion, it said. The programme aims at improving financial inclusion through increased financial literacy, the release said, adding that improving the employability of the youth who want to make a career in overseas financial markets is another objective………………………………………..Full Article: Source