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Guidance Residential announced that it has reached the $4 Billion milestone in home financing. This $4 Billion threshold is more than the cumulative production of all other providers in the market. Guidance Residential has helped approximately eighteen thousand families to date, buy or refinance their homes. The company has grown into the largest Islamic finance employer in the United States. The workforce is diverse, 20% of the employees are Muslim Americans. Guidance Residential offers home financing products and services for Muslim Americans through their Shariah-compliant, Declining Balance Co-ownership Program.

The central bank of #Malaysia plans to undertake an in-depth review of important organisations to re-energise the Islamic finance talent development landscape. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said over the years, the central bank had established specialised institutions to enrich the talent ecosystem. These include the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance, International Shari’ah Research Academy (ISRA), Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM), the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals and the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance Malaysia. Ibrahim noted that the new Educator’s Manual on Shariah Standards on Murabahah has several benefits for universities and stakeholders. One benefit is strategising talent deployment, while another area is the reconfiguration of academic programme to nurture talent with enhanced employability.

In #Malaysia Bank Negara governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said Islamic banking assets made up 27% of the total banking system, surpassing Bank Negara’s Financial Sector Masterplan. He said that there were 27 takaful players offering more than 100 financial products now compared with fewer than four Islamic banks and takaful players before year 2000. He added that the penetration rate for takaful now stood at 14.8% of the population, indicating growing acceptance of takaful products. On the launch of the Educator’s Manual on Shariah Standard Murabahah, Muhammad said that the manual was aimed to act as a comprehensive teaching guide to enhance the Islamic finance syllabus. It was jointly developed by Bank Negara in collaboration with the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance and IBFIM.

Brunei is strongly encouraging the growth of the Islamic finance industry. According to the Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Development Indicator, Brunei was recently ranked 10th out of 92 countries. Yusof bin Haji Abdul Rahman, Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD), noted that the Brunei Government Sukuk Al-Ijarah Programme has been consistently issued since 2006 as a benchmark. He said public–private sector dialogue has been increased to raise awareness of the benefits of takaful products. He said he believes that Islamic finance can be a solution to support economic growth and promote long-lasting financial stability.

#Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has challenged the management of Jaiz Bank to strengthen its corporate governance to face the current economic challenges of the country. Umaru Ibrahim, managing director of NDIC, gave the advice to the newly appointed managing director of Jaiz Bank, Hassan Usman. Ibrahim advised the bank to step up its public enlightenment efforts in order to increase deposits' mobilisation. He also noted the bank's challenges in investing its excess liquidity due to the absence of Sharia compliant investment windows. He noted that while a lot of countries had tapped into the Sukuk investment window, Nigeria was still lagging behind in this respect.

#Qatar’s QInvest said that its revenues rose to $65.7 million and net profits increased to 25.3 million (QR92.1 million), compared to $24.4 million (QR88.7 million) in H1 2015. The main drivers behind the results include exits in the firm’s investments, strong performance in its international real estate portfolio and increased fee revenue. CEO of QInvest Tamim Hamad Al-Kawari said the company recorded a satisfactory half-year performance across all business lines in the face of economic uncertainties. QInvest is reviewing and stress-testing its portfolio to match the heightened volatility levels and headwinds of the markets.

The race to tap an US$11.5 trillion pool of wealth held by Muslim individuals, institutions and governments is intensifying. The asset management units of Malaysia's RHB Bank and Indonesia's PT Bank Mandiri plan new Islamic funds. RHB Group Asset, which oversees 54 billion ringgit ($13.5 billion), will offer new Islamic funds in Malaysia and may make some of them available in Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and the Middle East. The Indonesian Mandiri Manajemen’s plan for more Shariah investment vehicles comes after the company’s global Islamic stock fund drew $10 million from institutional investors when it was set up on Aug. 4. According to Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre, the global Islamic asset management industry is forecast to grow to $77 billion by 2019 from $58 billion at the end of 2015.

In #Pakistan the Ministry of Finance stated that amendments in legal framework are under review to strengthen the framework of taxation proposals for Islamic Banking. The initiatives mainly include review of Mudaraba guidelines to align those with overall regulatory framework of Islamic Finance, issuance of Sukuk guidelines, issuance of Takaful rules and government Ijara Sukuk. A multi-tiered Shariah supervisory and compliance framework has been put in place. Also, a Shariah governance framework for Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) was formulated, which explicitly defines Shariah related rules and responsibilities of all key organs of IBIs. The initial Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) for an Islamic Banking subsidiary was revised from Rs 10 billion to Rs 6 billion.

While Middle Eastern and Asian countries are leading the Islamic economy, Sub-Saharan Africa remains under-serviced. However, West Africa is seeing a marked uptick in Islamic finance, especially in the issuing of sukuk. Sukuk is increasingly being used to finance development projects, as well as to increase domestic capital reserves and financial inclusion. 2016 has seen a host of new sukuk issuances in West Africa. On August 10th, Togo’s initial CFA 150 billion ($263 million) sukuk offering closed. This comes after Senegal launched its second $263 million round at the end of June. As a result of sukuk’s unique traits, the IMF is promoting the regional adoption and inclusion of sukuk into African government debt strategies.

This case study reports on three governance challenges overcome by a diversified family enterprise from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of the early lessons for the family was to separate emotions from business. They did this by appointing independent directors whose role was to set the strategy behind the business. In order to engage everyone, they established a family assembly, where each and every branch would always be fairly represented. The family assembly membership was and still is based on merit, and its chairman is always the eldest member of the family.

Fitch Ratings has updated its criteria for rating Sukuk, which replace the existing criteria published on 18 August 2015. Fitch's analytical assumption is that the structure of the sukuk and the underlying transaction provides for full recourse to the originator and the sukuk rating is driven solely by the originator's rating. It remains uncertain whether certificate holders will be able to enforce their contractual rights in local courts. Ratings assigned to sukuk do not imply any confirmation that the sukuk are sharia-compliant.

Al Baraka Bank Egypt is planning to pump one billion Egyptian pounds ($112.6 million) into vital energy projects with economic feasibility. Chairman Ashraf El-Ghamrawy said the money will go for energy businesses in addition to projects in the high-profile Suez Canal development axis. Al Baraka Bank Egypt reported a first half net profit worth 255.390 million pounds, up from 140.291 million pounds in the first half of 2015. Deposits surged to 29.578 billion pounds by the end of June 2016, compared to 25.351 billion pounds by the end of December 2015.

Research analysts forecast the global sukuk market to grow at a CAGR of 8.51% during the period 2016-2020. The forecast has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. To calculate the market size, the report considers the total revenue generated from the sukuk issuance primarily in the emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Middle East, and rest of the world.

The AL-Baraka Bank Pakistan (ABPL) has decided to purchase the Burj Bank Pakistan. The ABPL bank will purchase the Burj Bank through swap Ratio of 1 share of ABPL for every 1.7 shares of Burj Bank for shareholders of Burj Bank, while its face value will be Rs 10 each in the ABPL for every 1.7 shares of Burj Bank. The ABPL will finalise this merger on August 22. In April this year, the ABPL was allowed due-diligence of the Burj Bank for the amalgamation of two of the smaller entities in Pakistan’s banking industry. The two banks deal in Islamic products only.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) launched the Educator's Manual on Shariah standards and operational requirements in accordance with the Murabahah principle. BNM Governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said the manual serves as an important material towards enhancing the quality of Islamic finance education. The manual was developed by BNM together with the International Shari'ah Research Academy for lslamic Finance (ISRA) and the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM). A panel of 20 experts in various fields contributed to its content.

In #Malaysia islamic banking assets now stand at 27% of the total banking system, surpassing the targeted 20% under Bank Negara Malaysia’s financial sector master plan. Bank Negara governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said there were now 27 players offering more than 100 financial products compared with fewer than four Islamic banks and takaful players before 2000. The Educator’s Manual on Shariah and Practical Operational Standards was launched on Tuesday to enhance the quality of education. Of the 14 syariah standards that are being developed by Bank Negara, Murabahah is the first series in the educator’s manual. The manual for other contracts will be developed gradually.

The shares of Amana Takaful Life will be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange on Thursday. The initial public offering of Amana Takaful Life by way of an offer for sale of 75 million rupees was oversubscribed at its opening day on 21st July, 2016. The company offered 50 million ordinary voting shares at 1.50 rupees per share which represents 10% of its total stake.

The Maldives is working towards enlarging its Islamic finance industry to diversify its economy away from tourism. The country aims to become an investment hub for South Asia and centre for the halal industry in the region. To that end, President Yameen Abdul Gayyoom’s government has developed a roadmap to expand Islamic financial services throughout the archipelago. Last year, the Ministry of Economic Development started offering Islamic microfinancing through the Bank of Maldives, and earlier in 2016, the government launched Hazana Maldives, a special-purpose vehicle for the further development of Islamic finance. It also created a Shariah advisory board and laid the regulatory framework for sukuk investment.

The growth of the Islamic finance industry has generated considerable interest and discussion in the financial world markets in recent years. According to a Senior Lecturer at the University of Nairobi School of Business Abdulatif Essajee, lack of information has inhibited the growth of the sector in Kenya. He projects a 25% growth in the coming years. The fastest growing segment in the world is the Issuance of Islamic bonds (Sukuk). In Kenya, the fastest growing segment is Islamic banking.

Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has reaffirmed the ratings of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (KTPB) at "AA(tr)/A1+(tr)" on the national scale. Ratings on the international scale have also been reaffirmed, with foreign currency rating at "BBB-/A3" and the local currency rating at "BBB/A3". Outlook on the assigned ratings is "Stable". Ratings of KTPB are underpinned by its strong institutional ownership, which is led by Kuwait Finance House. The impact of regional instability on Turkey’s banking industry has been manageable so far. However, the industry may face challenges in the coming periods.