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Gulf Finance House announced that its landmark $300 million development project, Jordan Gate, based in Amman, Jordan is due for completion early 2011 following the signing of a new agreement between Bayan Holding Jordan Gate Company, Alhamad Company, the construction company responsible for delivering the project and Hektar as a new investor. With the signing of the new agreement, the Jordan Gate project is expected to be completed early next year. Jordan Gate is the most extensive and significant infrastructure development in Amman. The project consists of two 43 storey towers, with one of the towers to be transformed into a hotel to be operated by Hilton Hotels and the other tower to provide offices, multi-purpose lounges and halls for meetings, presentations and conferences. A commercial podium connecting the two towers will host shops, entertainment centres, a food court and other services.

Affin Holdings Bhd (AHB) and The Bank of East Asia Ltd, Hong Kong (BEA) have formally established a partnership to jointly develop business in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other key markets where they both operate.

BEA chairman and chief executive Dr David K.P. Li said that the China Banking Regulatory Commission is studying the proposal to set up a joint venture between BEA and AHB to conduct Islamic banking in China, but that there are no related laws yet.

Investment manager Argyll Investment Services Limited has launched the World Shariah Funds PCC Limited, a Guernsey-based suite of Islamic-compliant investments which will be listed on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) and distributed globally. The World Shariah Funds have brought together three major Islamic investment teams within a single fund structure: From Malaysia, Reliance Asset Management (Malaysia); the south-east Asian CIMB Principal Asset Management Berhad ; and Markaz of Kuwait. The fund launch follows Argyll's participation in the Guernsey Finance presence at the Fund Forum Middle East conference in Bahrain last year at which Legis and the fund's legal advisers, Ogier, were also present. Stuart Place, of Argyll, delivered a presentation on 'Innovation vs. Conservatism: How to achieve results in a post-credit-crunch market' following which the Guernsey parties were introduced to a Middle East fund promoter.

Qatar Islamic Bank's subsidiary European Finance House (EFH) has recently rebranded as QIB UK in order to reinforce its positioning within QIB's expanding global network.The change was instituted at the beginning of August and acts to unify the brand in order to keep consistency across local and international markets. The primary motivation behind the rebranding is to further bring EFH under the umbrella of QIB's well established identity as one of the regions foremost Islamic banking institutions, and the world's 4th largest Islamic bank in terms of assets. The change in name acts to enhance QIB UK's profile within the Islamic finance industry. The institution's aim is to achieve outstanding outcomes and solutions for its diverse clientele by implementing the expertise of its international team in combination with proven strategies and techniques.

A leading economist says the practice of jailing debtors is morally wrong. In the rest of the world it is the banks’ responsibility to try to assess the credit worthiness of individuals. Prof Batchelor is trying to rebuild Dubai’s image. He thinks that Dubai could treat people who might have stayed and set up a business a little better. They shouldn’t be faced with the idea of going elsewhere in the world. Abdulfattah Sharaf, HSBC's head in the UAE, keeps his idea that jailing debtors remained an effective way for banks to retrieve bad loans.

The Shoura Council has completed 12 sittings regarding the draft of the mortgage law and to solve the differences of opinion. However, a timescale for when the draft law would be approved has not been given. The implementation of the Saudi mortgage law is expected to increase demand for housing by around 50 percent.

Press Release

Gulf Finance House Long-Term Rating Lowered To 'CC'; Outlook Negative; Ratings
Withdrawn At GFH's Request

*Gulf Finance House's liquidity is under immediate and severe stress, and the
institution has not been able to strengthen it, in our view. *We note that GFH has a
large debt repayment coming due in the next few weeks. *We are lowering our
long-term rating on GFH to 'CC' from 'CCC-' and are affirming the 'C' short-term
rating. *We are withdrawing all the ratings on GFH at its request. *The outlook was
negative at the time of withdrawal.

PARIS (Standard & Poor's) July 5, 2010--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said
today that it has lowered its long-term counterparty credit rating on Bahrain-based
Gulf Finance House to 'CC' from 'CCC-'. At the same time, we affirmed GFH's 'C'
short-term counterparty credit rating. Subsequently, we withdrew all the ratings on
GFH at its request. The outlook was negative at the time of withdrawal.

"The downgrade reflects our expectation that GFH is likely to restructure its debt
soon because of its weakening liquidity and revenue generation. In our view,

Debt management agency ISDM calculated the average debt load of its customers is AED500,000.

The agency has more than 3,000 clients on its books and about 70 percent of its customers are defaulting on consumer rather than business loans. About 5 % of the clients are ex-UAE residents who have skipped the country rather than face jail for their debts. Banks can recover 80 cents on the dollar through consolidation. Through a debt collection agency, may receive 40 cents on the dollar according to the firm's director Yohannes Mazeingi.

Dubai-based ISDM advises clients in debt distress to consolidate their loans and negotiate with the banks. It collects a two percent fee commission based on the overall value of the debt.

Under UAE law, bouncing a cheque is a criminal offence that can result in a jail sentence.