IslamicFinance.de

For three days in April social entrepreneurs including designers, businesspersons, humanitarians and investors were gathered in Oxford, England at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship and its more discursive 'un-conference' the Oxford Jam.
An important part of the session was focused on securing investment to start and scale social enterprises.
Also, Tom Hume introduced IDEOs 3 principles to create large-scale innovation:
1) Build on existing user behavior.
2) Scale up by going where people already congregate.
3) Prototype early

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 23, 2011 – The Muslim Philanthropy Award winners were announced at the 4th annual banquet of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists in Dubai, UAE.

Every year, the Muslim Philanthropy Award honors an individual, a grantmaking institution and a corporation for their distinguished contribution to the field of philanthropy.

The Muslim Philanthropy Awards for 2011 were awarded to H.R.H. Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (Personality) for demonstrating outstanding civic and charitable responsibility; Islamic Development Bank, Saudi Arabia (Grantmaker) for showing long-standing commitment to economic empowerment, human dignity, and institutional building; and Abraaj Capital, UAE (Corporation) for demonstrating longstanding leadership in advancing strategic philanthropy, creativity in responding to societal problems, and having significant positive impact on corporate giving in MENA region.

The key challenges and opportunities addressed in the Islamic Wealth Management Report are:

•Managing the Islamic wealth cycle through the entire process of wealth acquisition, preservation and distribution and achieving the required balance between spiritual and worldly obligations.
•Understanding the primary issues facing Waqf donors despite the strong growth drivers in this market: poor performance is due in part to the shortage of professionals leading to low quality asset management and lack of transparency.
•Considering the suitability of the Swiss private banking family office structure as a wealth management tool to ensure effective Islamic governance.
•Addressing the challenges facing Islamic mutual funds to achieve growth and performance.
•Recommending standardisation, education and diversification of Sukuk in order to increase the supply of products and the liquidity of the market.
•Analysing Islamic equity and indices performance over the last year to illustrate that diversification remains key for investment without compromising Islamic principles.

HSBC Amanah Shariah wants to allocate USD 2.12 million through PT Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM) for the development of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
The funds from HSBC to MSMEs will be chanelled through its Shariah-based microfinance branches.

“1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World,”, an exhibition that opened up in December 2010 in New York Hall of Science showed the influence stretched from China to Spain for hundreds of centuries.
“1001 Inventions” is a global educational initiative. The aim of this is to promote awareness of a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements from Muslim civilization from the 7th century onwards.
The original creators of this initiative are: Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, FSTC, a British based non-profit, non-religious and academic organization.

The annual convening of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, widely recognized as the premier forum on Muslim Philanthropy worldwide, welcomes social investors, grant-makers, government and business leaders, visionaries, and civil society executives to a solicitation-free collaborative environment.

The 4th World Congress will initiate a dialogue around the potential roadmap for Muslim Giving in the next decade. This discussion will be enriched by the collective wisdom and experience of leading philanthropists and intellectuals from around the world. The forum will also examine challenges unique to Muslim societies, and offer options for managing them.

Update 17th Feb 2011:

The organizers of the 4th World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists regret to announce the change of meeting venue due to circumstances beyond their control. This unpredicted situation came about in response to the directives we received today from the Moroccan authorities. While we feel extremely disappointed, we believe it is prudent that we do not compromise on the safety of our guests.

Call For Submission

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Deadline: 20 December 2010

The annual convening of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists is widely recognized as the premier forum on Muslim Philanthropy worldwide. The event welcomes philanthropists, social investors, grant-makers, government and business leaders, visionaries, social entrepreneurs and civil society executives to a solicitation-free collaborative environment.

The 4th World Congress will lead a dialogue around the potential roadmap for Muslim Philanthropy in the next decade. This discussion will be enriched by the collective wisdom and experience of leading philanthropists and intellectuals from around the world.

While high-level plenary and panel discussions take place on day-1, interactive roundtables will be organized on day-2 around four major themes: global hunger, gender equality, social entrepreneurship, and science, technology & innovation (STI). For social investors, the conference will also showcase innovative philanthropic models selected by jury.

Proposals are invited in the following categories:

• Podium Presentations (12 minutes) regarding the conference theme

Steuerliche Würdigung im nationalen und internationalen Kontext

Der Markt Islamic Finance wächst rasant und umfasst bereits heute ein erhebliches Anlagevolumen. Demgegenüber besteht ein großer Kapitalbedarf in der europäischen, speziell auch in der deutschen Realwirtschaft ebenso wie ein Bedarf an Investoren.

Bei der Umsetzung von Islamic-Finance-Vertragsmodellen kann die Besteuerung im Einzelfall eine ausschlaggebende Rolle spielen. Daher erläutert die Autorin in diesem Buch für ausgewählte schariakonforme Finanzierungs- und Anlageformen zunächst die Scharia-Rahmenbedingungen der jeweiligen Vertragsmodelle aus deutscher rechtlicher, ertragsteuerlicher und verkehrsteuerlicher Sicht. Die steuerlichen Fragestellungen werden anhand von Beispielen im grenzüberschreitenden Corporate Bereich im Schnittpunkt von deutschem internationalem Steuerrecht und ausländischem Steuerrecht der weiteren beteiligen Staaten verdeutlicht.

Inhalt

* Einleitung
* Grundzüge von Islamic-Finance-Vertragsmodellen
- eigenkapitalbasierte („Musharaka“ und „Mudaraba“),
- fremdkapitalbasierte („Murabaha“ und „Tawarruq“) sowie

ResearchGATE is the largest social network for academic research globally. Dedicated social profiles of researchers allow to enter academic careers, published articles in journals and books, announce fields of research for international exchange just to name a few of the features.

IslamicFinance.de took another effort to create a dedicated group and invite researchers globally to use this platform and foster research in Islamic finance. The last academic initiative taken was to sponsor and start a full fledged platform for the Islamic Finance WIKI, the online encyclopedia.

Researchers are invited to participate in these initiatives.

Please visit:
http://www.researchgate.net/group/Islamic_Finance/

Arab donors—predominantly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE)—have been among the most generous in the world, with official development assistance (ODA) averaging 1.5 percent of their combined gross national income (GNI) during the period 1973–2008, more than twice the United Nations target of 0.7 percent and five times the average of the OECD-DAC countries. Arab ODA accounts for 13 percent of total DAC ODA on average and nearly three-quarters of non-DAC ODA.

The share of Arab ODA in Arab GNI was exceptionally high in the 1970s and early 1980s, peaking at over 12 percent for the UAE and at about 8.5 percent for Kuwait and KSA in 1973. Nearly one-third of all ODA during the 1970s was from Arab donors. Although the ratio has fallen over time, it still exceeds the average among OECD-DAC member countries.

Moreover, Arab aid is generally untied, and is offered without conditions or restrictions.

Poverty is a complex issue and needs to be tackled on a range of fronts including, but not limited to, improving economic growth. Poverty remains one of the big challenges to socio-economic development of majority of developing countries, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia. Besides, this phenomenon has brought about problems such as illiteracy, malnutrition, disease and even crime. Global food crisis further worsened the already precarious conditions of poor people in these countries.

To cope with the bane of poverty, the OIC has to reinvigorate its machinery for economic growth and cooperation among member countries through comprehensive mobilization of the resources, within and outside the OIC community. A new approach to economic cooperation was, therefore fashioned out to ensure that all stakeholders are sensitized on the need for the accelerated transformation of the economies of OIC Member-States and the welfare of their peoples.

World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists Launches “Pakistan Reconstruction Fund” Marking the Second World Humanitarian Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Oak Brook, Illinois, August 19, 2010: The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists (WCMP) marks today the second World Humanitarian Day by establishing “Pakistan Reconstruction Fund” to rehabilitate communities severely affected by the catastrophic floods in the country.

WCMP expresses its deep concern about massive devastation resulting from the torrential rains that flushed away villages, destroyed about 3.2 million hectares of standing crops, killed hundreds of people and displaced about 14 million people, according to UN estimates.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the rapid delivery of assistance for millions of people in flood-stricken Pakistan, as he saw for himself the devastation wrought by the recent disaster.

Date: 07/08/2010 -

OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, called, on 07.08.2010, upon OIC member states, its affiliated relief organizations and the international community to take a prompt action in order to contain the catastrophic effects of the unprecedented floods in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He expressed his deep concern about the humanitarian crisis resulting from the torrential rains that devastated entire villages, killed hundreds of people and displaced about 12 million people in the North-West and South of Pakistan, according to UN estimates.

The Secretary General affirmed that the OIC has already started taking action to mobilize support among member states and to provide assistance for those affected by the crisis. Mr. Ihsanoglu expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the member states that sent immediate assistance to displaced persons.

The Secretary General expressed his sincere condolences to the Pakistani people and government for the loss of lives caused by the floods, expressing sympathy with the relatives of victims and support to the affected people, and wishing the injured a prompt recovery.

Online Donations via http://www.doctorsworldwide.org/worldpay

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

August 9th 2010

Doctors Worldwide: British Medical Charity opens hospital in Nowshera District to provide medical treatment and aid for flood survivors.

Doctors Worldwide, a UK based medical relief charity, has opened up a hospital in Peer Sabak, Nowshera District, to provide medical care for an estimated 30,000 population affected by the devastating floods.

Nowshera’s hospitals have been flooded and are unable to function since the floods started over a week ago. Further heavy rainfall is expected in the area today, hampering relief work.

“Doctors Worldwide has identified a building in Nowshera District that we are using as a hospital. The nearest hospital is 22km away and inaccessible due to the damage to roads and survivors of the disaster are in many cases too weak and frightened to make the journey,’’ said Abdul Wahab, Doctors Worldwide, Field Coordinator in Nowshera.

For Immediate Release:

Oak Brook, Illinois – April 3, 2010
H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nahayan

The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists expresses its most profound sympathy on the recent loss of one of the leading Muslim philanthropists, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, the Chairman of the Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation.

Sheikh Ahmed was the head of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), rated among the world's top state-run investment establishment. He was a brilliant entrepreneur and a devoted humanitarian who will be remembered dearly by all of us.

Under Sheikh Ahmed’s visionary leadership, The Zayed Foundation has made an impact that was truly global. Several initiatives aimed at issues such as poverty, scarcity of clean water, preventable disease, and aggravation of war impacts was launched in some of the poorest economies.

The Congress joins people of the United Arab Emirates in mourning the demise of Sheikh Ahmed and prays to Almighty Allah for granting eternal peace to the departed soul and grant solace to the bereaved Al Nahyan family. Ameen.

-----The End-----

Press Release

The report provides investors with an in-depth overview of the various asset classes in Islamic wealth management along with a synopsis of the market scenario during the past 18 months. The report also explores the concept of estate and succession planning, which Sarasin believes is insufficiently addressed in the Islamic finance industry and is a key element of Sarasin’s Islamic wealth management offering. Finally, the report provides an insight into the bank’s economic outlook for 2010.

The key issues and challenges addressed in the report are:

• how Sharia screening reduced the downside in volatile markets and how it affects the finance industry and investors,
• the behaviour of direct real estate investments in comparison with real estate funds and Sharia-compliant real estate investment trusts,
• the income-related role of Sukuk within Islamic balanced portfolios and the probability of defaults,
• a comparison between various Islamic investment funds ranging from income-oriented to commodity, real estate and equity funds,
• the size and future of the Islamic private equity and venture capital industry,
  

Press Release

Today sees the launch of a new Journal on Islamic finance from dedicated Islamic finance media entity Yasaar Media.

The Journal, called So Far – the Journal of Strategic Thinking in Islamic Finance, is written and edited by members of an Islamic finance Think Tank and is modelled on traditional academic journals. The difference with So Far is that the members of the Think Tank are predominantly practitioners rather than academics.
Member of the Think Tank are drawn from the ranks of committed Islamic finance professionals around the world and range from the Gulf and the Far East to the USA and Europe.

Each issue of So Far is dedicated to a single topic of core importance to the Islamic finance industry – and the launch issue looks at the thorny issue of the problems facing the Sukuk market. Unlike many other journals So Far is distributed free in PDF format and is available from a variety of sources including Yasaar Media thus guaranteeing maximum readership and exposure.

IslamicFinance.de has created a fanpage on Facebook - for all the users wishing to follow the news abstracts on the Facebook platform. Please join and enjoy!

CGAP, Deutsche Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and Grameen-Jameel announced the Islamic Microfinance Challenge 2010: Innovating Sustainable, Scalable, and Market-Driven Models. The contest is a joint initiative to promote the innovative design of Shariah-compliant products for Islamic microfinance clients.

The organizers are seeking original Islamic microfinance business proposals which are profitable, sustainable, scalable, and Shariah-compliant. Finalists of this competition will be awarded with grant funds as well as need-based technical support to launch a pilot project of their proposed business idea.

It offers a unique opportunity to showcase innovative business ideas, gain industry-wide recognition, and benefit from the funds and technical expertise of leading institutions in the microfinance and Islamic finance sectors.

The microfinance sector in Afghanistan is going through a period of reform which is largely due to the consequence of an early emphasis on rapidly achieving operational sustainability.

AREU researched on the impact of microcredit on informal credit systems and rural livelihoods illustrated by the viability of challenges faced by MFIs. These challenges were linked to having invested little effort in determining the viability of clients by understanding the social and economic contexts in which they were to invest their loans or in offering loan products meeting client needs.

MISFA's reforms have initially targeted MFIs' internal structures, capacity, and control systems. However, they also recognise the need to consider greater diversity of loan products and methodologies to meet client needs. To support diversification in the future, after internal reforms are in place, MISFA has committed to an action research agenda to investigate demand for savings products, agriculture and livestock loans, and Islamic finance products.

Full report at: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&shorti...)