IslamicFinance.de

Reuters published a report that stated that Dubai Group has not made any interest payments, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, on $10bn of its outstanding debt since August 2010. The report added that no financial support from Dubai authorities has been offered.
It seems that at this point, Dubai Group’s assets could be worth as little as $2.5-3bn.

Having coem out from the global debt crisis relatively safe, the Islamic finance industry is looking to corporate business as the next big growth driver.
More than 70 Islamic banks and windows are now in operation across the GCC as both Muslim and non-Muslim, corporate and retail customers look to involve Islamic finance into their investment and funding mix.

The Palestine Exchange (PEX) obtained the unaudited interim condensed financial statements from Palestine Islamic Bank( ISBK). Their disclosure has been published on the PEX website and contains: the Statement of Financial Position, the Income Statement, Changes in Equity Ownership, and the Statementof Cash Flows.
The company also presented information regarding management, issued shares, material changes and significant events that may have disturbed financial performances during the first nine months of the year.
Furthermore, ISBK has procured draft financials of the first half of 2011 that havenot been reviewed by their independent external auditor, and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) has not approved them.

Hamood Sangour Al-Zadjali, the country's central bank head, stated that Oman may in future consider launching sukuk. He added that inflation in Oman was stable and would be around four percent this year.
Oman accepted Islamic banking in May this year, after previously deciding not to introduce it.

Three banks from UAE are among 10 largest Arab Islamic banks.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Rajhi group remained at the same position as the world’s largest Islamic bank at the end of 2010 while four in the UAE were among the 10 top Shariah-compliant banks.
The Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was second by assets, which stood at $43.7 billion at the end of 2010 compared with $39 billion at the end of 2009.
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) was ranked third, with assets of about $24.5 billion, followed by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), with around $20.5 billion.

Islamic financial institutions such as banks, insurance and property development should play an active role in finding ways on how waqaf, zakat and sadaqah could be exploited as intruments in the economic transformation of the Muslim ummah.
Sultan of Kedah Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah gave a statement at the three-day conference themed 'Islamic Banking and Finance: Waqaf, Zakat and Sadakah As Community Empowerment And Strategies For The Economic Transformation Of The Ummah'.

Rob Pearce of HSBC analyzes a form of socially reponsible investing based in Shariah.
It seems that the Muslim community currently makes up approximately 4% of the UK population. This is anticipated to double to 8% over the next two decades. But the proportion of the estimated £500bn UK DC assets invested in Islamic funds is a minuscule fraction of this amount. Auto-enrolment carries many challenges and opportunities, as well as an additional five to eight million individuals who will be saving more or joining a pension scheme for the first time. With an average age of only 28, many of these new investors will be Muslims.

Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) launched an Exposure Draft presenting their proposed principles on liquidity risk management.
This draft is credit-positive for IFIs as it transposes a set of globally recognised best practices for liquidity management into the Shari’ah-compliant banking context.
Liquidity for IFIs remains chained by the absence of a deep and globally integrated Shari"ah-compliant money market, particularly in liquid, short-dated and high-quality issuance.

International financial institutions and experts are coming together in Oman to discuss about various issues of Islamic banking, which is adjusted to offer several opportunities in financial services sector as also to the common man. The deliberations will happen at the Oman Islamic Economic Forum (OIEF), that will be held at the Al Bustan Ritz Carlton Muscat Hotel on December 17 and 18.
Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, former prime minister of Malaysia, will speak at the OIEF.

The AAOIFI - World Bank Annual Conference on Islamic Banking and Finance will be co-hosted by AAOIFI and the World Bank. The conference will take place on 23 and 24 October 2011 in Bahrain Conference Centre, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
At the conference the main subjects will be: pertinent topics for the international Islamic finance industry including inevitability of existence of Shari'a Supervisory Board in Islamic financial institutions, challenges in applying conventional international accounting standards, challenges in implementing Basel III capital adequacy standard, distribution of Islamic insurance surplus, potential of Islamic finance to promote international trade, and potential of real estate investment trusts in Islamic finance.

Recent regulatory changes in Kuwait and Qatar, retail client preferences for Shariah-compliant banking products, and stronger balance sheets and funding positions, provide better growth prospects for Islamic banks compared with conventional peers.
It seems that the brokerage gave Saudi Arabia's Alinma Bank and Qatar Islamic Bank 'overweight'.
The brokerage downgraded Abu Dhabi Commerical Bank to 'neutral' from 'overweight' expressing the fact that slowing private sector activity, rising foreign exchange refinancing costs and a flattening US yield curve will blow net interest margins in the long term.

Path Solutions and Banque Islamique de Mauritanie (BIM) presented the successful Go Live of iMAL Islamic banking solution at BIM main branch in Nouakchott, Mauritania, on Sunday the 2nd of October.
Path Solutions gives complete end-to-end solutions for the Islamic finance sector which allow its clients to have a 'one-stop shop' for all their needs. The AAOIFI-certified iMAL has reached an unprecedented success by continuing to offer superior performance, flexibility and ease-of-use.

African Development Bank presents in a report the reason why the use of Islamic banking in the region has been limited. First, it takes into consideration the effect of Islamic banking's focus on the equitable distribution of risk and returns between suppliers and users of funds and the future potential of Islamic finance, including its possible alignment with North Africa's development goals, particularly its ability to increase the diversification of funding sources.

I seems that the assets of Islamic financial institutions in Qatar have traversed the QR100bn mark.
After this, many of the European banks and international financial institutions have decided to open Islamic banking windows to collect the benefits and advantages of Islamic banking system.
Barwa Bank will register in Qatar Exchange after the bank completes the pre-requisites and other necessary formalities as it is waiting for the approvals from the concerned authorities for this. The statement came from Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Chairman of the bank.

According to sources of the monthly magazin Bilan, a French language business monthly, the 'Islamic Bank of Switzerland' is seeking a license to operate out of Zurich, Switzerland. Investors are supposed to be from Qatar.

Alkhair International Islamic Bank Malaysia is asking approval from Bank Negara Malaysia to begin talks to obtain a Malaysian bank. The reason seems to be the fact that this will permit them to affirm into the ringgit business.
Alkhair International posesses a licence to carry out Islamic banking business in non-ringgit currencies.

The Budget of 2012 will promote furthermore the comprehensive development of conventional and Islamic banking, insurance and takaful, investment banking and other financial services in terms of the range and offerings of products and services.
Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar stated that it showed the Government’s effort to strike a balance between dealing with people, cyclical and structural issues.

BankMuscat wa sthe host of an introductory seminar on Islamic banking services in the Sultanate under the support of Sheikh Abdullah bin Salim bin Abdullah A'Salmi, Deputy-Chairman of the Capital Market Authority.
The lecture included some of the products that could be presented by the Islamic banks, such as Mudharaba, Eejar, Murabaha and Islamic bonds.

Islamic banks in the country Malaysia have been encouraged to present more short-term syariah-compliant products in order to attract foreign investors.
Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, Amanie Islamic Finance Consultancy and Education LLC managing director, stated that they always have investors in Malaysia looking for syariah-shariah compliant products.
He added that liquidity is not a problem in Malaysia because they have many products that can absorb the liquidity in the Islamic financial intuitions.

Unicorn Investment Bank launches its new brand identity, as it has now officially changed its name to Bank Alkhair B.S.C. (c). The Bank’s subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Turkey will now officially perform under the names Alkhair Capital Saudi Arabia, Alkhair International Islamic Bank Malaysia and Alkhair Capital Turkey respectively.
Furthermore, the bank presented a streamlined and more modern logo and brand elements, in keeping with Bank Alkhair’s re-aligned and more focused approach and operating strategy.