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The main focus of Islamic Finance News Forum was the continuous rise of the Islamic capital markets in the Gulf region as well as worldwide. According to managing director and chief executive officer of Alinma Bank - Abdulmohsen A. Al-Fares - the Sukuk market is part of Islamic Capital Market (ICM) and is growing at a quick pace. He further pointed out that even though the total ICM make up less than 2% of the worldwide bond issues, it still is a promosing area since Sukuk issues in 2011 amounted to about 84.4 billion worldwide with the tendency to grow further.

Fitch Ratings claims that after Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank's (ADIB) hybrid Tier 1 Sukuk further UAE banks are likely to follow their example and issue Basel III-compliant bonds. Both conventional and Shari’ah-compliant banks are expected to issue Tier 1 products in the coming year. Fitch also noted that relatively high levels of capital are a necessity for banks in the Gulf region in order to deal with the difficulties in the operating environment. Moreover, hybrid Tier 1 instruments are believed to be a cost-effective means of accessing a wider investor base.

A strategic agreement aiming to provide financial means for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was signed by Kuwait Finance House - Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain) and Tamkeen. The agreement says that companies in Bahrain will have access to low-cost Islamic financing solutions which will be provided by KFH-Bahrain. Tamkeen will be providing 50% subsidy in order to help these companies to obtain the necessary funds for their development. According to Mr. Mahmood Hashem Al-Kooheji, Chief Executive of Tamkeen, the Enterprise Financing Programme is crucial institutionalising the concept of SME lending in the country and it is also contributing to the expansion of the customer base of Tamkeen's partner banks in this programme.

According to an announcement by alizz islamic bank SAOG, the Initial Public Offering worth RO 40.8 million had great success and was oversubscribed. Investors from category 1 had applied for up to 100,000 shares and received all of their application amounts. Category 2 investors had applied for more than 100,100 shares. They have been allotted 83.95% of their application amounts. It is planned for the constitutive general meeting of the bank to be held on November 20, 2012.

Today the certification institute Ethica launched an e-book on practical, usable information about Islamic finance. The 700 pages of the book cover a number of topics from sample Islamic finance contracts, over 1,000+ scholar-approved Q&As, to the entire "Meezan Bank Guide to Islamic Banking," study notes to Ethica's award-winning Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) program, etc. At the end of the e-book there is an easy-to-use subject index. The emphasis lies on entrepreneurship.

Omani real estate firm Tilal Development Company has persistently been asking the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for approval to raise funds by issuing a sukuk. According to Abdullah bin Salem Al Salmi - executive president of CMA - as soon as Tilal are ready with a plan, CMA are ready to grant them approval for raising money by means of sukuk. Currently, the next step is for Tilal to submit a formal application for the issue. CMA are encouraging companies to float sukuk issues. The only thing necessary for bringing regulation for sukuk is a minor amendment in the Capital Market Law.

Dana Gas has eventually agreed upon restructuring its sukuk worth $920 million. Thus, it will potentially avert the seizure of its assets in Egypt. According to Dana's statement on Wednesday, the company intends to pay its sukuk holders a mix of cash and new bonds which will be split between a sukuk and a convertible. There is no information on what proportion would be in cash. This solution to Dana's default is believed to serve best the interests of all stakeholders.

In conclusion of the two-day Muscat International Islamic Finance Forum a set of key recommendations was compiled by the organisers. The recommendations are a result of the discussions among the participants which included senior industry figures, global investors, takaful operators, bankers, as well as top Shariah scholars. The recommendations include the following areas: regulatory framework, Shariah, asset liability management (ALM), in-country value (development of real economic sectors & SME), asset / fund management, education, takaful, sukuk, and media & awareness.

Safa Investment Services - a global Islamic asset manager in in the Gulf region - was launched by Investor for Securities Company. The grand ceremony was held in Four Seasons Hotel, Al Riyadh, on the 8th of October 2012. According to the manager of Safa Investment Services, Mr. John Sandwick, professionally managed assets around the world are worth nearly $80 trillion. Muslims are in possession of about $3 trillion of them. Surprisingly, a huge extent of the money was not invested compliant with Shariah principles. It is a goal of Safa to provide Sharia-compliant investing opportunities and to produces profits larger than those of conventional investing.

Eman Al-Shemmari, the head of Nuclear Medicine Sections at the Ministry of Health, expressed his admiration for Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and its actions to sponsor the Nuclear Medicine International Week. The event took place under the auspices of the Minister of Health Ali Al-Obaidi and included a number of scientific lectures in the mentioned medical field. The lectures were held in several hospitals in Kuwait. According to Al-Shemmari, KFH is largely responsible for the success of the event and the enrichment of the medical cadres and public.

The expectations of Sedco Capital are that its assets under management will double during the next five years due to the company's expansion into new. The expansion plans are driven by the increasing demand from Shariah-compliant investors. The investment firm established an entity in Luxembourg in July 2012 aiming to expand its reach in the Shariah-compliant private equity, real estate and commodities space. Unlike most sharia-compliant firms, which operate on a regional basis, Sedco wants to go global.

According to expectations, the measures introduced to bring the rules on takaful insurance up to date and expand them will be of help to the efforts of the segment to make inroads into the market share. The first Islamic policy writer opened in 1989, which, compared to other countries in the Gulf region and Asia, is very early. However, although Bahrain was working on becoming an insurance and takaful centre in the region, it is still necessary to strengthen its position. This could be accomplished by developing the Kingdom's human resources pool through advanced training programmes.

UBS recently closed the bank account of Islamic Relief. Because of nervousness about counter-terrorist regulations, the charity organisation is under constant scrutiny by other banks. Incoming as well as outgoing transactions are stopped on a daily basis. It is yet not known whether this is a temporary measure or a permanent one. Since 9/11, Islamic Relief and other similar charities have been object of high scrutiny and had to explain themselves at every juncture.

A few days ago, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank launched a sharia-compliant hybrid Islamic bond worth $1bn, thus aiming to boost its core capital. The Tier 1 perpetual sukuk has no particular maturity date. It was launched at a profit rate of 6.375%. Even though the structure of the sukuk is rather rare and unusual for the Middle East, the demand is high. This means that that ADIB offered enough of an incentive to reel in investors. It can be expected that more bonds of a similar kind may follow this issue.

Dana Gas PJSC was able to conclude a restructuring deal with sukukholders including BlackRock Inc. (BLK). Thus, the formerly mentioned seizure of its Egyptian energy assets will be averted. The company has reached an in-principle agreement with its creditors, according to which it will convert the Islamic bonds into an ordinary and a convertible sukuk. Sukukholders will receive a partial cash payment as well.

Arcapita Bank received the approval of the court for a $125 million bankruptcy loan. The loan will be provided by Fortress Investment Group (FIG.N) and is said to be the first such loan in consistency with the sharia principles. It will enable the funding of the company in its efforts to restructure debt after filing for bankruptcy in March. Though the loan was initially set at $100 million, the committee succeeded in pushing to raise it. The approval was given by Judge Sean Lane in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York.

Family businesses play a key role in the business scene of the Middle East and are intrinsic to the region's economy as well. According to the latest Deloitte ME Point of View publication however, challenges faced by today's family businesses grow in number. Ideas how they can be overcome are discussed in the publication. In the article titled 'Family Businesses: Addressing the challenges faced in today's environment' the competition of family businesses in a more turbulent environment is pointed out. The environment is marked by pluralistic social values, intensified competition, a global economy and rapidly changing politics and regulation.

Just as HSBC Holdings announced it would shrink its Islamic banking operations in a number of countries, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi made plans to increase the contribution of its Shariah-compliant operations three times over the next eight years. Thus, it becomes clear that HSBC's move is nothing but a sign of its own priorities. While it is set to continue its operations mainly in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia with a limited presence in Indonesia, local banks have the opportunity to step in for it.

Banks of the Gulf region are poised to raise billions of dirhams of fresh funds in order to meet the impending funding rules. The deadline for the first set of new Central Bank liquidity regulations at the end of the year is approaching.

After its default, Dana Gas has asked creditors for a decision on the liquidation of its US$920 million sukuk (Dh3.37 billion). Locked in last-minute negotiations with a committee of sukuk-holders, Dana discusses a standstill agreement over repaying the bond. The company has made a request to its creditors to declare whether they will seek to dissolve the bond. Such a measure would enable attempts to seize the company's assets, including concessions in Egypt and Sharjah.