IslamicFinance.de

Ajman Bank, the emirate’s first Islamic commercial bank, has officially announced the appointment of their new Head of Finance Division, Seifeldin Abdelkareem. With a career in the financial field spanning twenty eight years, Abdelkareem has a multitude of experience to contribute as new Head of Finance.

Total investments in the Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) swelled to Rs 64.7 billion during the third quarter (July-Sept) of current calendar year 2009 as against Rs 53.5 billion in April-June this year.

Gulf Finance House (GFH), the leading Middle Eastern Islamic investment bank announced Tuesday that it has bought back US$ 9 million of its sukuk during the 4th quarter of the year.

In order to standardize and harmonize Shariah compliance mechanism in IBIs, it has been decided that above AAOIFI
Shariah Standards are adopted in Pakistan. In the first phase, AAOIFI’s Shariah Standards No.3 (Default in Payment by a Debtor), No.8 (Murabaha to the Purchase Orderer), No.9 (Ijarah & Ijarah Muntahia Bittamleek) and No.13 (Mudaraba) have been reviewed and are hereby adopted for IBIs in Pakistan. The adoption of these Standards shall, however, be subject to certain clarifications and amendments as given in the attached Appendix- A. IBIs are also advised to be prepared for adoption of other AAOIFI’s Shariah Standards in next phases.

CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd today launched it's CIMB Islamic Global Commodities Equity Fund, with a fund size of 600 million units, to tap into the tremendous growth opportunities in the commodities sector.

An online survey by ReadiMinds has revealed that internal frauds in the banking sector remain a major source of concern in the Middle East region.

Turkmenistan, Central Asia's largest gas producer, is getting $1 billion loan from a group of state-run funds from the GCC countries and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), to finance infrastructure projects in the country, Reuters reported.

The Constituent General Meeting of Al Baraka Bank Syria was held in Damascus on 16 December 2009 in the presence of the founding shareholders or their representatives and representatives from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Central Bank of Syria, the Commission for Securities and Financial Markets and other representatives of concerned public authorities and bodies.

A number of Mediterranean basin countries are promoting themselves as Islamic finance hubs in an effort to attract sukuk, trust and investment funds business.

Al Jazeera Islamic Company, which will be known as Al Jazeera Finance now on, plans to broaden its business portfolio and become a sector leader in Qatar.

Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded the ratings of three Dubai-based banks -- Emirates NBD,
Mashreqbank PSC and Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC. These ratings were placed under review in August 2009 in response to a weakening of economic conditions in Dubai.

Madison-based World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has received a $60.5 million federal contract to expand credit union services in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

The international financial services information company Thompson Reuters is planning to launch a news portal covering information about the Islamic financial industry in early 2010.

A consortium of four banks namely, National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Arab African International Bank, and Banque du Caire arranged, underwrote and syndicated a facility for the Egyptian Nitrogen Products Company (ENPC). Faisal Islamic Bank was among the co-arrangers.

HSBC Amanah today announced the launch of HSBC Amanah Premier - the world's first Islamic banking service aimed at internationally mobile, affluent consumers.

NCB Capital, the investment banking arm of National Commercial Bank, Saudi Arabia’s largest bank, believes that Islamic finance, an increasingly important element of the GCC financial sector, is well positioned to lead the way in the region’s pending economic recovery.

Westlaw Business, part of Thomson Reuters, and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) today announced their agreement to provide current standards and other Islamic finance industry information for global business law professionals within the Westlaw Business Islamic Finance Centre. Please check the full news at the link provided.

The question was analysed by Mr John Foster of BBC where it was concluded that anything that is not prohibited under the Al-Quran and the As-Sunnah is permissible. The full news is available at the source stated below.

Robin Wigglesworth reported in the Financial Times that although, the Islamic finance industry may have breached the USD 1,000 billion mark in assets, difficulties arise, in spite of claims that the industry’s model is inherently more robust than conventional finance.

Islamic financial institutions have proven equally susceptible to a global economic downturn and property correction as their larger conventional peers. Dubai has been an active issuer of Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, and the exposure of Islamic banks to the emirate’s debt pile has caused the cost of financing to rise greatly during the past two weeks and triggered a rash of credit agency downgrades

The Financial Times produced a special looking into the Future of Islamic Finance.

The download is free of charge.