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HSBC and Allianz Takaful announced a Bancassurance partnership to promote Islamic insurance products in Qatar.
The bank will promote and sell ‘family Takaful products’ comprising plans for protection, savings, investment and children’s education. The products are denominated in dollars and riyals and are available to both conventional and Islamic banking customers.

Record car sales in Indonesia helped fuel 50 percent growth in Shariah-compliant banking assets last year and Islamic lenders are setting up booths at automobile shows to further develop the market.

The books for Emaar Properties' planned Islamic bond, or sukuk, sale are now open and the price whisper is in the 8.625% area.
The Dubai-based real-estate developer last week said it appointed HSBC, RBS and Standard Chartered to arrange investor meetings targeting fixed-income investors starting Jan. 21. The meetings were arranged in Asia, Europe and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Malaysian trustee company Amanah Raya Berhad is joining forces with Fattah Finance and the state-owned Development Bank of Kazakhstan to conduct a feasibility study to establish the second Islamic bank in the CIS country. Their purpose is to submit an application for an Islamic-banking license later this year under new legislation introduced by Kazakhstan in 2009 to facilitate the establishment of Islamic banks and the introduction of Islamic financial products in the country.

Yemen is the latest country that announces the possible raise of the much-needed financing from the financial markets through a debut sovereign sukuk issuance sometime in the first half of 2011.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are assisting Yemen on the technical aspects of issuing commercial paper under a technical agreement which the World Bank Group has with the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group to assist its member countries to help formulate policies to raise financing for infrastructure, development and budgetary support.

Norton Rose (Middle East) LLP confirms that Dubai-based partner and Global Head of Islamic Finance, Neil D Miller will be retiring from the practice on 2 April 2011.
Neil will be joining one of the big four professional services firms in Dubai, where he will lead the establishment of a global Islamic financial advisory business.
Norton Rose Group’s award winning global Islamic practice will be led by three partners who will act as regional heads. Mohammed Paracha, based in Bahrain, will be responsible for the Middle East and Africa, Farmida Bi in London for Europe and Davide Barzilai in Hong Kong for Asia Pacific.

The Philippines’ sole Islamic bank has opened a branch in the Muslim province of Sulu in the region of Mindanao.
The recently opening of Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines is expected to lure locals to open an account and save money instead of keeping them in their houses.

Before joining Dubai Islamic Bank, Al-Gebali served as the CFO at Boubyan Bank, Kuwait. During his 23 years of professional experience, Al-Gebali has held senior positions at Global Investment House, Gulf Investment House, Kuwait Financial Center and International Financial Advisors.

Allianz Takaful has entered into Bancassurance partnership to promote Islamic insurance products in the State of Qatar. The company is fully owned by subsidiary of Allianz Group and HSBC Amanah.
The products will be denominated in US Dollars and Qatari Riyal and available to both conventional and Islamic banking customers.

Kuwait’s Aviation Lease and Finance Co posted a nearly 10-fold jump in first-quarter net profit after earning a one-time revenue of 20 million dinars ($71 million). "The sharp increase in profit … was due to amendments to some contracts that contributed additional one-time revenue of around KD 20 million,” the statement said.
Alafco said it plans to reach a fleet of 100 aircraft by 2015.

Qatar sold $13.7bn of bonds to local banks as the country seeks to absorb excess cash with lenders.
The bonds, both Islamic and non-Shariah compliant, mature in three years. The conventional bond pays 5% interest.

Although prices are still expected to drop further, confidence is returning to specific locations and developments in the Dubai real estate market with the re-emergence of key lenders.
Projects such as The Old Town, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah, The Meadows and The Greens are proving to be more resilient in both the sales and leasing market.
The reports points out that buyers now have the financial option to upgrade to better quality units in more desirable locations. These improvements on efficiency and quality can only enhance the reputation of the real estate market in Dubai.

The investment firm Arcapita has said it is conducting a rights issue to raise fresh funds from shareholders, as it prepares to refinance a $1.1bn loan due next year.
The firm also plans to market the rights issue to new institutional investors in the Gulf region, Malaysia and other parts of Asia.

Jamil El-Jaroudi, chief executive of Bahrain-based Elaf Bank, has unveiled plans to arrange Islamic bonds in South East Asia.
The Islamic investment bank won a mandate to act as financial advisor on sukuk issues in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Michelle Solomon has the strong oppinion that the Islamic Financial Services (IFS) sector in Abu Dhabi is showing a positive resilience to the world economic crisis as it increases market share while expanding its reach with new products.
The global publishing, research and consultancy firm’s analysis also indicated that the industry was primed to play a key role in the financing of Abu Dhabi’s large-scale infrastructure projects thanks to its sizeable liquidity.

Pembinaan BLT plans to sell 10 billion ringgit of Islamic bonds to fund upgrades to national police facilities.
The sukuk issuance will be the biggest in the Southeast Asian nation in more than three years.
The sukuk program will have a maturity of up to 25 years, with CIMB Investment Bank acting as principal adviser and lead arranger.

Banks reduced their exposure to Bahraini investment house Arcapita and Kuwait's Investment Dar by selling syndicated loans at distressed levels this week.
The sales show that banks are becoming more willing to sell impaired Middle Eastern bank loans as they become more familiar with the debt restructuring process.

The Dubai property developer behind the emirate's manmade islands said it will tap government support funds to repay more than $800 million in debt due next month as it pushes ahead with restructuring talks.
Nakheel announced plans to use funds from the Dubai Financial Support Fund to repay the sukuk, a type of Islamic bond, in a regulatory filing to the Nasdaq Dubai stock exchange.

Tabreed is nearing an agreement with creditors on a restructuring plan worth more than Dh5 billion.
Sources say Tabreed is just weeks away from a possible restructuring pact. The company spent billions of dollars building cooling plants, but amid the downturn, revenue from many of its projects did not materialise as expected.

Malaysia adopted on Jan. 1 a new Shariah Governance Framework (SGF) for Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) that supersedes the Guidelines on the Governance of Shariah Committees of IFIs introduced by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
One prominent international Shariah advisory to the Islamic finance industry, Muhammed Elgari of Saudi Arabia, agrees that Malaysia’s Shariah Governance Framework for IFIs could become a blueprint for other countries to follow.