IslamicFinance.de

The Islamic Bank of Thailand plans to float 55 billion baht worth of Islamic bonds in the local and overseas markets this year, says bank president Dheerasak Suwannayos. He said the bank hoped to raise 5 billion baht from a local Islamic bond issue in the second quarter, the first issued in the Thai market.

Asean member countries must have a minister to promote and champion the grouping’s causes within each country as the region moves towards integration by 2015, CIMB group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Tun Razak said

Sales of Islamic bonds may increase 24 percent this year, led by Southeast Asia, as the region’s expansion helps drag the world out of recession, said CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., the leading arranger of such issuance.

With the global financial crisis putting the spotlight on "casino capitalism" of the West, leading scholars and experts from the Arab world on Thursday pitched for interest-free Islamic banking as a solution and its introduction in India, home to the world's largest Muslim minority.

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.

Islamic finance growth will stay strong this year, as Southeast Asia drives demand for financial products that comply with Islamic or Sharia law, debt watcher Standard & Poor's said.

But the Philippines is unlikely to benefit from this since Islamic banking remains an uncharted territory here, an official of the country's lone Islamic bank said on Monday.

Malaysia needs to develop a vibrant stock market to attract asset flow and support the growth of Islamic finance, first holder of the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) chair of Islamic finance, Dr Abbas Mirakhor, said Friday.

Pakistan is due to pay $600 million on a maturing 5-year Euro Sukuk bond, on Tuesday, an SBP official said.

Dawood Islamic Bank, Pakistan’s only double AA rated bank has completed its hat trick by inaugurating three more branches in Lahore.

The Bahrain Financial Exchange and Bursa Malaysia signed an agreement to study a common platform on which Islamic finance products such as commodity murabahas can be traded. Malaysia's stock exchange launched a platform last year on which murabaha, an Islamic money market instrument, can be traded using palm oil as the underlying commodity.

Emirates Global Islamic Bank has launched a BancaTakaful product ‘Sarparast Family Takaful Plan’ in collaboration with Pak-Qatar Family Takaful and FWU AG a global facilitator of BancaTakaful.

Sime Darby Bhd yesterday listed its Ringgit Malaysia Sukuk Programme on Bursa Malaysia with a combined master limit of RM4.5bil under the Exempt Regime.

Medium-term growth prospects for the world's sukuk market are good, said Standard & Poor's Ratings Services in a report published today. In addition, we understand from unofficial market sources that about US$10 billion more could potentially enter the pipeline. If that comes to market, total sukuk issuance in 2010 could approach the current 2007 record of US$34.3 billion. The main uncertainty this year is market conditions.

Financial regulators in Brunei have placed restrictions on how small the amounts credit card issuers can set for monthly repayment of credit card debts, according to a directive from the country’s Ministry of Finance. Cardholder incomes also will determine credit card spending limits, the directive states.

India is planning to overhaul regulation of its financial system to attract investments from the Gulf and to encourage its largely unbanked Muslim population to save money in a way compliant with their religion, a senior government adviser has said. K Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of India's upper house of parliament, told the Financial Times that the ruling Congress Party is proposing reforms to the finance ministry, the Reserve Bank of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India to allow for the introduction of Islamic financial services.

Faysal Bank Ltd., a Pakistani lender, plans to participate in the process to acquire a majority stake in the Pakistan unit of Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, according to a notice issued today.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), said it was committed to ensure that its plan to set up an Islamic bank in the Maldives in partnership with the government of the island would materialize soon.

Islamic Finance Expert reported that Ningxia Bank has been identified by the relevant ministries in China to develop a pilot project in Islamic finance.

Indonesia has set the yield on the retail sukuk due to be issued next month at 8.70 percent. Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population and wants to develop the domestic Islamic finance market, plans to sell 3 trillion rupiah ($321.2 million) worth of retail sukuk next month.

The government is likely to approve an Islamic banking licence for the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. The move comes before the administration unveils its new economic model in which the services sector, and in particular Islamic finance, is given more emphasis.