IslamicFinance.de

Bahrain's Unicorn Investment Bank has dropped plans to buy Dubai Group's 40 percent stake in Malaysia's Bank Islam.
Dubai Group said in October 2009 it was reviewing options for the stake in Malaysia's second-largest Islamic bank as it shifts its focus closer to home.

On behalf of the syndicate of creditors, the Investment Agent ABC Islamic Bank (E.C.), confirms that no meaningful proposal has been received from International Leasing and Investment Company in respect of restructuring its debts.

The downgrade of the BFSR and issuer ratings of Bahrain Islamic Bank reflects
- the difficult market conditions in which Bahraini banks continue to operate;
- the bank's deteriorated asset quality and heightened provisioning needs;
- Bahrain Islamic Bank's weak financial performance stemming from the cost of concentration risks materialising in heavy losses for two consecutive years;
- uncertainties over the bank's ultimate shareholding structure.

In an interview with The Express Tribune, Mohammad Shoaib said that high levels of interest rate and inflation will continue to affect savings and investment until the government tackles these problems.
He said the company is trying to offset the negative impact of inflation on investors, but if the high inflation persists, investors and companies will continue to be affected.

First Finance Company Q.S.C. (First Finance) carries out its financing activities through various Islamic modes of financing including Murabaha, Mudaraba, Musharaka, Musawama, and Istisna. It provides finance for numerous products including cars and vehicles, real estate, construction and building materials, heavy machinery, marine equipment, furniture, education, weddings, jewelry, travel tickets, Istisna, corporate finance, and medical services. The company is headquartered in Doha, Qatar.

Insurance company Neova Sigorta is set to implement takaful in Turkey.
The company will distribute its profits to customers. Neova Sigorta will be able to implement the takaful system once it begins to make a profit in three to four years.

Sharia compliant banks will need to significantly improve customer service if they are to compete with mainstream banks.
The poll of 4,000 Gulf residents by Ernst & Young found that, despite strong interest in Islamic finance, customers found banks lacking in transaction speed and service quality.

Qatar Charity is spearheading a campaign to collect funds to be donated to relief initiatives benefiting flood victims from Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The “Fight the Floods” campaign was launched offering the people in Qatar the opportunity to directly deposit to the authorised Qatar Charity "Fight the Floods" bank account: A/C Number: 100024470 at Qatar Islamic Bank.

Sharjah Islamic Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Corporate Leasing Company Egypt (CORPLEASE), to establish a joint venture 'CORPLEASE UAE', a UAE-based company that will provide a plethora of lease facilities.
The ceremony was attended by Mohammed Abdullah, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank and Tarek Azmy, Managing Director of CORPLEASE, who signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations.

Mohammed Daud Bakar tells his story.
He was a lecturer on Islamic law in Malaysia for several years but a few things pushed him to become a sharia scholar. Sharia scholars sit on the advisory boards of Islamic financial institutions and work closely with bankers and lawyers to merge modern finance with Islamic legal principles, such as a ban on interest and the need for real assets to back all transactions.

Mohammed Daud Bakar tells his story.
He was a lecturer on Islamic law in Malaysia for several years but a few things pushed him to become a sharia scholar. Sharia scholars sit on the advisory boards of Islamic financial institutions and work closely with bankers and lawyers to merge modern finance with Islamic legal principles, such as a ban on interest and the need for real assets to back all transactions.

The banking sector in Nigeria has hardly had time to digest the "Guidelines on Shariah Governance for Non-interest Financial Institutions in Nigeria" and the "Framework for the Regulation and Supervision of Institutions Offering Non-interest Financial Services in Nigeria" published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Dec. 31, 2010 and Jan. 12 2011. The regulator has already been forced to defend its action of introducing Islamic banking into the country.

The Gulf Bond and Sukuk Association (GBSA), the trade association representing the Arabian Gulf fixed income market, is pleased to announce that it has filled a series of key committee positions for 2011. GBSA works through its topical sub-committees to promote a deep and transparent market for securities issued from the region.
Through its targeted sub committees, GBSA will discuss the issues that are likely to affect the future of the industry and create industry positions that will influence the direction and growth of the debt capital market in the Gulf region.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Financial Services has re-branded to ADIB Securities. This new identity ties in well with the firm's lineage as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ADIB.
Founded with a simple but important principle - to lead by example as a Shari'a compliant brokerage platform - ADIB Securities aims to best serve and meet investors' financial needs and objectives with high service quality, advanced technology and transparency.

Appeal No. 146 of 2010 by Parsoli Corporation Ltd dismissed on Jan. 12 by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The Appeal was against a ruling by SEBI that Parsoli and its promoters/directors violated several provisions of the regulations and perpetrated “fraud of the worst kind on the shareholders of this company who were deprived of their shares and when caught, the directors compensated the shareholders by crediting shares in their demat accounts through off market transactions.”

First Investment Co.’s creditors agreed to join a plan to restructure the company’s debts of about 90 million dinars ($321.8 million).
The Kuwaiti Islamic finance company, known as Al-Ola, is to repay its liabilities over 5 years.

The National Bank for Development (NBD) has been consolidating its market share in car financing.
Since the acquisition of 49 percent of the NBD's stock by the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank in 2007, the NBD has been transitioning to Sharia-compliant financial services.

Islamic finance is growing rapidly. Statistics show that global Islamic banking assets have grown approximately 10% per annum from the mid 1990s.
The growth of Islamic Financial Services has been driven by a growing Islamic population that is enjoying a rapid rise in purchasing power, due to better education and employment opportunities. This has been supported by financial engineering and innovation in the provision of Islamic financial products and services.
Moreover, Dubai Exports held a seminar to highlight Islamic Financial Opportunities in Germany and France which are two of the main economies within the Eurozone. The seminar was aimed at the very senior management within the Islamic financial services sector.

This year following the creation of a Sharia-compliant share index on the country’s main stock exchange will start Turkey’s first investment fund to comply with Islamic rules.
Bizim Securities will seek to raise an initial 100 million Turkish Liras ($64 million) to start investing in the second half of this year.

The Board of Directors of Amana Takaful PLC have opted to go for a Rs.750 million rights issue offering 500,000,360 new shares, subject to shareholder and regulator approval.
The proportion in which shares are issued will be one share for every one existing share.