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The Royal Award for Islamic Finance (The Royal Award) Dinner and Award Presentation will be held in Malaysia on 2 September 2014 in conjunction with the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2014 (GIFF 2014). The Royal Award, held once every two years, is spearheaded by Bank Negara Malaysia and Securities Commission Malaysia under the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative. The Royal Award recognises and honours an Islamic finance visionary whose achievements and innovation contribute significantly to both the growth of the global economy and social progress of communities around the world. An independent seven-member international jury panel will select the deserving individual for the award.

The GCC debt markets in 2014 had an active second quarter, particularly in corporate bonds and sukuk. The region's noteworthy issuances include Commercial Bank of Qatar issuing $750m bond. On the sovereign front, Qatar Central Bank (QCB) issued three government bonds amounting to $261m, $577m and $261m in Q2, 2014. UAE corporate bond issuances were dominant in the second quarter. The GCC's ability to shield itself from the regional instability was again on display in the second quarter. Dubai yields continued to decline to their lowest levels in a year, with the yield of 5-6 year bonds reaching 3.27 percent. On the region's IPO market performance, the second quarter of 2014 started off and ended on a high, with a total of seven IPOs, compared to two in Q1, 2014.

A newly released report "Islamic Finance in Africa: Unlocking Opportunities for Growth" studies the evolution of the Islamic finance industry in Africa. Moreover, the report, a joint publication by Kuwait Finance House Research Limited (KFHR) and Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC), highlights the exciting growth prospects for the various Islamic finance segments on the continent. Africa's presence in the global Islamic finance landscape is growing, albeit from a small base. The sukuk market in Africa holds great potential over the medium-run, amid unprecedented funding needs for infrastructure building. Aside from the sukuk market, Africa's Islamic funds markets holds potential in the medium-run. The Islamic banking sector has recorded solid growth, and demand for takaful products in Africa islikely to increase.

Emirates have secured a $425 million shariacompliant loan from a group of UAE banks to finance the acquisition of two Airbus A380 aircraft. Emirates used the loan to take delivery of its 50th A380 in Hamburg last month. The aircraft is scheduled to enter into service sometime in early August. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Adib), Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) were the joint book runners and initial mandated lead arrangers in the transaction. Emirates is the largest operator of the superjumbo A380 and have a further 90 on order. The airline’s president, Tim Clark, has previously said he is interested in ordering more of the superjumbos if Airbus is able to manufacture a more fuel efficient “neo” version.

The community and social initiatives launched by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority ( DEWA ) are an integral part of its strategy to serve the public good. DEWA is not only concerned with the provision of power and water, but also making efforts to enhance growth and prosperity in Dubai and the UAE through its social programmes and initiatives. Dubai's first Earth Hour was in 2008, and is one of the many initiatives organised by DEWA to raise awareness about the importance of rationalising consumption of energy. Besides, DEWA organised several environmental activities and awareness programmes to mark World Water Day. Moreover, DEWA organises the Consumer Award to encourage customers to reduce their consumption of electricity and water and follow environmentally-friendly practices.

Noor Bank announced the appointment of Damian White as Treasurer in a statement on Sunday. The role entails managing the bank’s trading activities, investment portfolio and the sale of market based treasury products to customers. As Chairman of the Asset and Liability Committee, he is also in charge of asset and liability management of the balance sheet. Previously, White served as Group Treasurer of Al Rajhi Bank, based in Riyadh. Before moving to the Middle East he was associated with the National Australia Bank, Melbourne, as Head of Group Funding, and also operated as the Head of the Funding Desk at Lehman Brothers Treasury, London.

Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) on Sunday announced its collaboration with the World Bank (WB) to begin a research partnership that would be beneficial to the global Islamic banking industry. The partnership's first initiative, part of a planned series of research projects, will be a study examining the risk-management challenges facing Islamic banks, with a particular focus on Musharaka and Mudaraba under the profit-and-loss-sharing system. The project will not only collect data from a number of countries where Musharaka and Mudaraba are being used in banking transactions, but the project will also examine what enabling legal and regulatory environment would be needed to support the adequate risk management of Musharaka and Mudaraba. The research's preliminary findings are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2015.

Alpha Capital Holding (AC) has been chosen to manage Wethaq Takaful Insurance - Egypt's launched-to-be mutual fund. Wethaq's planned fund will be at an initial capitalisation amounting to EGP 50 million. It is expected to be launched in local markets within the next three months. The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) has recently given its regulatory approval for the launch of six open-ended mutual funds by insurance companies, with total capitalisations worth EGP 450 million. Wethaq is currently completing the regulatory procedures required to launch its mutual fund. The fund's investment objective is to provide a savings and investment pool in order to give daily liquidity through accumulating daily returns on the fund's investments.

Jordan's Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Thursday acted as patron at a ceremony to launch a historic piece of legislation regulating the Islamic sukuk. The prime minister described the Islamic Sukuk Law as a milestone in Jordan's financial and economic history, noting that launching these items of legislation is the final step in building the pillars of finance compatible with Sharia. He also noted that the government will use sukuk to finance its productive projects, especially those in partnership with the private sector. The Jordan Securities Commission (JSC), Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) and the Securities Depository Centre are now ready to receive orders for issuing sukuk for the public and private sectors.

The Global Islamic Microfinance Forum (GIMF) will be organized jointly by AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) and AKHUWAT on November 01-02, 2014. The purpose of this 4th GIMF is to unite Islamic Microfinance Industry under one roof. Islamic microfinance is going through big challenges e.g. non availability of Shariah Compliant funds, misconceptions regarding Islamic microfinance, lack of man power, regularity and Shariah problem. The purpose of this forum is to gather the stakeholders under one platform to find out the remedy to these problems to give a strong support to rapidly increasing Islamic Microfinance industry.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait ( CBK ) was granted permission by the Central Bank of Kuwait to issue KWD 120 million (USD 425 million) in Basel III-compliant bonds, which could complicate the process of CBK converting into an Islamic bank. CBK has had to write off loans that have significantly impacted its profitability and may be the reason the bank needs to issue capital-raising bonds. However, issuing capital raising bonds may complicate the conversion process since Basel requirements place limitations on the call provisions included in bonds issued to raise capital. The bank will continue to have an interest-bearing liability for five years, which is much longer than the typical period for a conventional bank that has converted to an Islamic bank.

Qatar CSR network has launched The Qatar CSR Report 2013, entitled "The Initiative", in partnership with Qatar University and participation of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce. The Report is available in both Arabic and English. The Ministry of Economy and Commerce intends to launch a Qatari CSR index that takes into account similar international experiments based on relevant UN standards. The Ministry also seeks to form a CSR network that covers Qatari companies in general and companies registered in the Qatari stock exchange in particular, in order to promote the exchange of ideas and help these companies work closely to meet CSR standards.

Path Solutions has maintained its 1st place position in the IBS Islamic Core Banking Systems Sales League Table 2014, with Swiss-based Temenos and Lebanon-based BML Istisharat securing second and third positions in the list. The IBS Islamic Core Banking Systems Sales League Table is an international ranking of Sharia-compliant core banking systems sales. It evaluates their strengths, weaknesses, various systems and verifies their user lists to form an unbiased picture of the merits of each supplier and its new name wins. The win marks Path Solutions' fifth appearance as No. 1 Best Selling Islamic Software Provider Worldwide on IBS's list.

Saudi Arabia's crowded insurance sector is set for consolidation amid low penetration rates and rising costs, highlighting the difficulties for smaller firms in the industry to maintain market share or grow their business. The Saudi market remains dominated by compulsory products, with medical and automotive insurance accounting for well over 75 percent of all gross written premiums. Other products such as personal health or life coverage make up only a fraction of total policies issued and premiums written. However, penetration rates across GCC member states could double by 2017 thanks to longer life expectancies and compulsory health insurance programmes.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC, announced the launch of the organisation's latest CSR initiative, the 'DMCC Foundation'. The ' DMCC Foundation' will be a non-denominational fund to be governed by independent trustees appointed by the DMCC Executive Chairman to oversee the disbursements of funds. All DMCC employees will be encouraged to contribute 2.5 per cent of the average saving potential of their annual salary. The DMCC Executive Chairman has already led by example in doing so. Ahmed Bin Sulayem hopes to encourage other organisations in Dubai to take on the CSR challenge to bring the UAE to forefront of donating nations in the future.

The Islamic Bank of Britain has once again joined forces with the National Zakat Foundation (NZF), a charity which collects and distributes funds to Muslims in the UK. The coming months will see the Bank and NZF roll out a number of activities for the benefit of IBB 's customers, including a Q&A event held via Twitter, NZF's Zakat education guide, available to download on the IBB website, private consultations for IBB customers with NZF Zakat specialists, a Zakat payment service, and an exclusive Zakat video Q&A from NZF. The aim of the IBB and NZF partnership is to promote a better understanding of Zakat amongst British Muslims.

The Tunisian government is studying the possibility to present cash collateral highways, for the issue of Islamic sukuk so as to mobilise funding from 180 to 300 MTD in 2014, according to Minister of Economy and Finance Hakim Ben Hammouda. The Minister underlined the difficulties on the level of issuing sukuk because of the obligation to present cash collateral. He specified during a hearing session devoted to the examination of the complementary finance law for 2014, that negotiation with the Islamic Development Bank reached an advanced stage.

Barwa Bank , Sharia compliant banking service provider from Qatar, has announced the opening of a representative office in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). ?Currently in its fifth year of operation, Barwa Bank enjoys strong relations with major corporates, an increasingly growing SME portfolio and one of the fastest growing retail banking activities in Qatar. This momentum is expected to increase in 2014, as it continues to build up activities. This is the first time Barwa Bank has opened an office overseas and is in line with the bank's plans to develop the Sharia-compliant financial market outside as well as within Qatar, said Khalid Al Subeai, Acting CEO at Barwa Bank.

The DIFC is considering creating a single centralised Sharia board for the DIFC , in order to widen the acceptability of any one Islamic institution’s offerings and overcome the problems created by every institution having its own Sharia board and, therefore, limiting the liquidity of the market. Regulatory arbitrage is a problem in the global Islamic financial markets where every institution has its own Shariah board. A centralised DIFC Shariah board would help standardize the Islamic financial products and widen the number of people participating. Still there is not one global standard and every country has its own requirements which is not helping the development of Islamic finance.

Emirates NBD has announced that its Investment Bank is ranked as the leading arranger of US dollar denominated sukuk globally. According to league tables published by Bloomberg, from January 2014 to June 2014, Emirates NBD Investment Bank arranged 10 dollar sukuk issuances aggregating to $5.4 billion, which is the highest number of dollar denominated sukuk issuances led by any arranger during this period. This achievement is the latest in a series of recognitions for Emirates NBD Investment Bank, which has also recently been named the “Best Regional Bank of the Year” by IFR Middle East (Thomson Reuters) and “Best Debt House” by EMEA Finance.