IslamicFinance.de

According to the CEO of Amana Bank, Faizal Salieh, it is expected for the current $ 250 million of banking assets to rise to $ 1.5 billion in the coming years. About 8% of the country's population of 21.5 million people are Muslims. The strong demand for Islamic financial products comes not only from the Muslim population but from non-Muslims as well. Still at a preliminary stage, the local Islamic finance is nevertheless developing. The expected rapid growth of the local Islamic finance is attributed to the increased awareness of faith based concepts and the internalization of the financial markets.

Significant growth in the Islamic asset management industry was observed over the past ten years. Starting with structuring and launching of funds, it has developed to a more comprehensive wealth management service. However, the industry has not set its focus on the definition of a suitable asset allocation framework for Islamic investments yet. With the increase of the allocation to sukuk, the selected use of Shariah-compliant derivatives and a risk parity approach to asset allocation can become the foundation for a more effective Islamic portfolio management.

the new Chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia - Ranjit Ajit Singh - said he wanted to see the emergence of an internationalized single Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) asset class which would be able to compete with other major regional or global asset classes. He further added that internationalization of the Malaysian capital market as well as of ASEAN as a single asset class is necessary. The capital markets of all the member countries will profit from better and wider access due to success of ASEAN as a single asset class on the global stage.

Read more on: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20...

IslamicFinance.de offers an overview about new job openings of October 2012 herewith - firms aiming to be included please send a job profile/hyperlink to newsdesk@islamicfinance.de - the full details of the advert has to be accessed by the hyperlink below the brief description:

Product Manager, Islamic Banking

Standard Chartered Bank - United Arab Emirates-SCB (United Arab Emirates)
Job Description
?Development of Islamic wealth products across CBMS, insurance and investment streams to create customer value proposition.
?Ensure successful implementation of the Islamic banking strategy across high value segment.
?Concentrated responsibility to work with the Priority/Wealth/Private/SME product/frontline teams and support functions to build on the current Islamic banking capabilities and to create seamless customer experience
?Act as a product specialist for RMs on client meetings to introduce and explain the Saadiq solutions to meet their needs
?Financial budgeting and business forecast. Evaluation of financial performance.

The first Islamic arbitration rules in the world were introduced last month by the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA). They are expected to enable further expansion of Islamic finance with total global assets. The value of the assets is now estimated to lie between US$1.2 trillion (RM3.72 trillion) to US$1.3 trillion (RM4.03 trillion). The new rules concern conventional as well as syariah-compliant commercial transactions and contracts. With the new rules, a complete syariah-compliant process for relevant parties to a dispute is possible.

It is expected that by 2015 global Islamic financial assets will double their amount and reach the mark of $3tn. These expectations are based on the fact that demand for the securities in the Gulf Co-operation Council and Malaysia lures issuers to the market. A classic imbalance between demand and offer in the Islamic finance can be observed, which is driven by demand. Yields on sukuk and paying returns on assets have reached a record low in the current month.

More on: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=533484...

According to the IFIA, CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management has become the first Malaysian firm to launch funds from Dublin. Thus it is reinforcing the position of the domicile as Europe's leading funds centre. The start of the CIMB-Principal Islamic Irish Ucits fund range follows the constitution of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management (Ireland).

Dear Reader,

IslamicFinance.de is privately funded for many years. Now, for the first time, you have the possibility to make a contribution, from one Dollar upwards!

The technical details, and the money transfer via paypal is organised by Kapipal a new online fundraising tool:

http://www.kapipal.com/islamicfinance

On the blog I gave some more thoughts about Islamic finance media for those interested: http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3454

Please also note: The fundraising action has a deadline, so act today, not tomorrow and tell your friends about it!

All donors who will leave a message will be listed in the article, which follows after closure of the fundraising period.

I am happy to meet you in person either on 19th March in Milano (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3396) or on 10th May in Frankfurt (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=BAFINII) at the respective Islamic finance conference.

Wa at Taufiq min Allah, all the best,

Michael Saleh Gassner

Dear Readers,

Islamic finance media are a tricky service. This is true for various reasons: The Internet eats up the revenues, because everything ought to be free. Islamic banks are still a niche phenomena, and international banks like UBS or Deutsche are almost as large as the entire global Islamic finance industry. Consequently the marketing budgets are much lower, too.

Last not least, who should advertise? The banks among themselves or to the clients? Advertising from bank to bank, does usually not make much sense, but real client oriented formats are hard to find, too. May be this is a niche. Others, who could finance Islamic finance media are basically the service providers to the banks, but due to the limited number of Islamic financial insitutions, direct marketing, e.g. face to face meetings will be preferred.

This in short is the background why Islamic finance media are not so well established in terms of journalism and research, but mostly reflecting the press release as criticised by the makers of the Islamic Globe. See: http://www.theislamicglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

The 2nd Quarter 2011 issue of the Malaysian ICM quarterly bulletin published by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is now available online at:
http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/icm/11_2Q_msianicm.pdf

Research and Markets has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "Islamic Asset Management Industry - Investment Analysis" to their offering.
This research service titled Islamic Asset Management Industry - Investment Analysis deals with the global Islamic asset management industry, with a brief focus on countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and related investment themes.
In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine mutual funds, private equity, and venture capital.

Al Meezan Investment Management Ltd, the largest Shariah compliant asset management company has achieved another milestone of having assets under management of over Rs 25 billion.
In addition to healthy and competitive returns on their investments, the clients of Al Meezan have the added comfort of investing in an AMC with strong sponsors, credible Shariah advisors, professional fund managers, and a carefully selected Shariah compliant portfolio of investments.

AmInvestment Bank Group sets its target to RM25bil for next year from about RM22.3bil as at end-October.
This year, the division launched 12 funds and may introduce about the same number next year.
With an initial fund size of RM100mil, the newly-launched fund is expected to generate a double-digit return in the long term.

Moody's Investors Service has today assigned an Investment Manager Quality (MQ) rating of MQ2 to Jadwa Asset Management, a division of Saudi Arabian investment bank Jadwa Investment. This is the first MQ rating in the Middle East region and reflects Moody's opinion of the firm's very good investment management capabilities, financial profile and investment performance. At the same time, the rating also takes account of the firm's limited operating history, exposure to "key man" risk and the challenges the firm may face in managing growth.
Moody's believes that Jadwa's challenge to grow is primarily personnel-driven. A shortage of local investment talent and the challenge of retaining key members of the intestment team are likely to test Jadwa's ability to maintain the high standard of its personnel.
However, Moody's notes that Jadwa has been successful in attracting talent both locally as well as from outside the GCC. Moreover, the firm also reinforces the team's capabilities through internal and external training, and offers equity-based incentives to align interests and minimize turnover of key staff.

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/

Qatar First Investment Bank is co-launching with Gulfmena a unique, one-stop Shari'ah compliant asset management company. The new asset management company is expected to launch in fourth quarter 2010.

It will provide a fully integrated range of Shari'ah compliant products and services covering all asset classes and catering to qualified investors such as foundations, charitable organizations, Awqaf, Islamic banks, Takaful and Re-takaful companies as well as high-net worth individuals.

Tricor Group, a member of The Bank of East Asia Group, is expanding into Dubai and the Middle East through a new Joint Venture with Praesidium. JV with Praesidium will be based in the DIFC; will provide a range of outsourced services to both conventional and Islamic businesses, including global Shari’ah infrastructure support services, including bookkeeping services for Shari’ah-compliant businesses, fund administration and custody advisory services to Islamic funds.