IslamicFinance.de

Sarawak DAP has the strong oppinion that Bank Negara Malaysia must immediately investigate the practice of banks charging interests on loans under the Islamic banking principles as this is tantamount to borrowing money from loan sharks.
Chong Chieng Jen, party secretary, states that taking the Islamic banking principles into consideration, a borrower who defaults on his loan payment would be charged future interests on the period of the loan, if, for example, it is a 30-year loan.

Oman is close to finishing a draft rulebook for Islamic banking in the Gulf Arab country. The statement came from central bank governor Hamud al-Zadjali. The central bank got together with local lenders on Jan. 25 to discuss the regulations.
He added that the guidelines won’t be finished before the banking law is improved by mid-year to incorporate lenders that comply with the religion’s ban on interest.
Shariah-compliant banking will allow lenders in the country the chance to tap growth in the global Islamic finance industry.

It is possible that Azerbaijan will become a regional Islamic financing centre and play a significant role in boosting cooperation in Islamic banking with Persian Gulf and Central Asian countries.
introducing actively Islamic financing in Azerbaijan, the independent authority of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) on Islamic banking will begin its work in March, which plans to present six Islamic banking products to the market during the first phase.
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) is also in talks to institute the first Islamic insurance company in Azerbaijan, Takaful.

Hamood Sangour al Zadjali, xecutive president of Oman's central bank, stated that Islamic banking guidelines are set to be released by early February, while the Sultanate prepares for the launch of the two Islamic banks by June.
He added that they haven't yet received proper applications from banks as they are awaiting regulations to be issued.

Credit Agricole SA (ACA) has two mandates to administer Islamic bond sales in Saudi Arabia. The statement was given by c the bank's global head of Islamic banking.
He added the fact that one of the issues will be denominated in U.S. dollars.

Although Central Bank of Qatar (CBQ) set the deadline requiring the country's conventional banks which have opened Islamic banking windows to close them down to be Dec. 31, 2011, it has passed almost without being noticed.
Some Islamic bankers are now stating that the move was required to prevent the alleged rampant co-mingling of conventional and Islamic funds at some of the Islamic banking windows, and that the Qatari Islamic banking sector has been successfully re-aligned and consolidated.
The clear message of the directive is that dedicated standalone Islamic banks are favored to half-way houses where co-mingling and all sorts of compromises are possible if not the norm.
The affected banks included the Al-Islami window of Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest bank in the emirate; Commercial Bank of Qatar; Doha Bank; HSBC Amanah; Ahli Bank; Al-Khaliji Bank and International Bank of Qatar (IBQ), which between them had 16 Islamic banking branches in Qatar.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is at the moment in the process of revising its Capital Adequacy Standard for institutions offering Islamic financial services (IIFS), which was launched in 2005.
Mr. Jaseem Ahmed, Secretary-General at IFSB, noted that their revision process started in January 2011. He highlighted the fact that the adoption of components of capital proposed by the Basel III for IIFS need further deliberations by the stakeholders of the Islamic financial services industry.
The final draft of the revised document is forseen for issuance by the IFSB Council in 2013.

Dr Asutay critically analyzed the points of departure of the modern Islamic finance industry from the value system and aspirations of the Islamic moral economy. He also talked about the sources of and underlying reasons for this observed deviation and its impact on the wider acceptance of this industry.
Dr Asutay began the lecture with the statement that against the backdrop of global financial crisis, Islamic banks and financial institutions (IBFIs) have succeeded to achieve modest growth in their asset base and also in other institutional and financial variables.
He also hoghlighted that there seems to be an overwhelming convergence of IBFIs with conventional banks and financial institutions in terms of operations and products.

One of the most controversed issues in Islamic finance is around the initial capital of Islamic banks and takaful companies, especially when initiated by a conventional parent company.
Some people doubt the purity of the capital in Islamic banks and takaful companies and as therefor question whether these organisations are truly Islamic when their capital is not completely halal.
There are two points to be made in relation to this problem:
1. Money itself is not unlawful, but becomes prohibited through the way it is procured, if it's not in line with the Shari’ah law. Sin does not move with the money from one party to another.
2. Capital earned by the parent companies of Islamic banks may not be all from prohibited businesses. Part of the capital is supplied from individuals and permissible government and private organisations, therefore, it is possible that the funds arised only from permitted sources even if combined with prohibited income.

Experts stated that Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) should develop more products for them to handle better risks, in light of the recent financial crisis that has affected public image and trust in the global banking sector.
The secretary-general of Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) noted that Islamic banks were more conservative than their mainstream counterparts and generally had the capital required under the new Basel III framework, which started the implementation last year.

Russia's Finance Ministry is acting on legal acts to sign an unusual investment agreement with the United Arab Emirates. Mutual investments will avoid taxation, whereas the Arabs will not have their profit taxed.
The agreement between the government of the Russian Federation and the UAE "About taxation of the income from the investments of the contracting states and their financial and investment institutions" was signed in Abu-Dhabi on December 7, 2011, but no information about the act was given until recently.
According to the document, tax privileges will be guaranteed only to state economic agents of the two countries. The agreement showed central banks and state-run pension funds, as well as central and regional governments and the organizations that they control. As for the UAE, it goes about the Investment Administration of Abu Dhabi and the Emirate Investment Administration.

The issue of Islamic finance has taken centre stage in Morocco following the Justice and Development Party's (PJD) electoral triumph. The PJD has talked of promoting Islamic finance on a number of occasions.
Bank Al-Maghrib Governor Abdellatif Jouahri stated last month that Morocco was interested in Islamic finance and viewed the idea of creating Islamic banks as part of the new financial platform in Casablanca. The new banking law will include a chapter on finance to meet the demands of sharia law.
However, according to economist Slimi Noureddine, the political will to promote Islamic finance is lacking. He underlined the idea that Morocco should take the matter in hand to benefit from Arab investment, particularly from the Gulf states.

Takaful is coming out globally as a very viable model and being used successfully as engine of growth in a number of Muslim countries. The statement came from Chief Executive Officer Pak-Qatar Takaful, Pervaiz Ahmad while speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He added that, despite of the fact that it is an untapped market, Islamic mode of banking and all its tools are fast gaining ground in Pakistan when compared to conventional mode of banking.
It seems that Islamic financing products such as Murabaha, Ijara, Musharaka and Islamic Export Refinance, etc, are catering to a diverse cross-section of the economy, including corporate, SME and consumer sectors.

Dubai Bank Kenya has launched two Shari’ah compliant accounts, one aimed at low income earners, the other at higher income earners as it looks to satisfy the insatiable request for Islamic banking products in Kenya.
Dubai Bank is among around half a dozen conventional commercial banks in Kenya that have opened up Islamic finance windows in order to lock-in their existing Muslim customers, discouraging them from shifting their loyalty to the two fully fledged Islamic banks in Kenya: First Community Bank and the Gulf African Bank.

The upturn in the global Sukuk market that has been forseen for the past few years doesn't seem to happen – but for all the wrong reasons. Nowadays corporates and banks are issuing because they need the money.
Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, NBAD, RBS and Standard Chartered have all been secured in to advise on the five-year Reg S, dollar-denominated transaction, which could be priced at 350bps over midprice swaps. Fitch has given an A+ anticipated rating and Moody’s has given an A3 with negative outlook.
Bank Muamalat Indonesia is also planning to launch $140m worth of Sukuk in the first half of 2012 with both an Indonesian rupiah subordinated Sukuk and a $50m dollar-denominated senior tranche.

UM Financial came up for Canada’s 1.3 million Muslims with mortgages that don’t charge interest. But its failure last year has started a dangerous debate about whether Islamic banking should be banned, or whether it’s still a potentially lucrative industry in need of better regulation.
Mortgages with UM Financial were set up so that lender and borrower byed the house together. The homebuyer pays rent to the mortgage issuer, while gradually buying off the outstanding share of the property. After it is fully paid, ownership is transferred to the borrower.
Although UM’s troubles were many, for Islamic finance they probably won’t be the last word on a system that will remain in demand with a growing part of the population.

According to an interview with the CEO of Qatar Islamic Bank the bank signed with Banque Populaire Caisse d’Epargne an agreement to establish the first Islamic bank in France 2012.

The source is not confirmed by other media and similar news appeared in 2011 before.

It seems that, even after his retirement, Mahathir Mohamed, the former Malaysian prime minister, is still giving advice whether on the global financial crisis, on the future of the Islamic banking industry, on the Islamic gold dinar, on the future of US dollar as an international trading currency, or on his celebrated spat with arch speculator and fund manager, George Soros, in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in 1998.
Mahathir noted in an exclusive interview that the Islamic banking industry should learn from the mistakes of conventional banking if the same fate is wished to be avoided. He is convinced that the Islamic system for economic and financial management has something to offer to the world and therefor encourages countries to resort more to using Islamic finance in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Islamic Banking Department was set up in Pakistan on 15th September, 2003 and has been authorized with the task of promoting & developing the Shariah Compliant Islamic Banking as a parallel and compatible banking system in the country. Islamic Banking is one of the arising field in global financial market, having more and more success throughout the world.
At this point there are six licensed fully fledged Islamic Banks and twelve conventional banks with standalone Islamic Banking Branches with the total branch network of over 336 branches performing in more than 50 cities of all the four provinces.

BankMuscat's Board of Directors decided to arrange an independent Islamic banking window at the bank and launch Islamic banking operations in accordance with the injunctions of Shariah, subject to approval from the Central Bank of Oman.
The bank revealed the logo of its Islamic banking window under the brand name 'Meethaq' at the Oman Islamic Economic Forum.
The bank's Islamic banking operations will be separated from its conventional counterpart in all aspects. Further, in line with CBO requirements, the bank noted the formation of a 3-member Shariah board to ensure the Meethaq operations are in compliance with Shariah.