IslamicFinance.de

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank launched a capital protected Soft Commodity Note that provides an opportunity for investors to invest in this Murabaha based Note, the profit of which is determined by the prices performance of cotton, corn and sugar.
This is a opportunity given to investors to a return based on the expected performance of the three commodities. Their price depends on growth in population and buying power of the emerging economies of China, India, Asia and Africa.

Because of the amplification of Islamic banking and insurance, banking and insurance regulators expect a new legislation that allows ompanies to invest in Sharia-compliant securities.
Kenya's first Islamic insurance firm, Takaful Insurance, was initiated 3 weeks ago. The first branch was opened in Eastleigh, Nairobi. That is why an absolute change is needed.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 23, 2011 – The Muslim Philanthropy Award winners were announced at the 4th annual banquet of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists in Dubai, UAE.

Every year, the Muslim Philanthropy Award honors an individual, a grantmaking institution and a corporation for their distinguished contribution to the field of philanthropy.

The Muslim Philanthropy Awards for 2011 were awarded to H.R.H. Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (Personality) for demonstrating outstanding civic and charitable responsibility; Islamic Development Bank, Saudi Arabia (Grantmaker) for showing long-standing commitment to economic empowerment, human dignity, and institutional building; and Abraaj Capital, UAE (Corporation) for demonstrating longstanding leadership in advancing strategic philanthropy, creativity in responding to societal problems, and having significant positive impact on corporate giving in MENA region.

The formation of a single board of trustee including all donors and the establishment was advised to the Boards of Trustees of the Funds (BTF) of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Niger.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Chairman of the OIC BTF, held the OIC BTF meeting.

The statement of Iqbal Belath, Deputy Governor, Bank of Mauritius, points out the fact that the bank has already given licences to two banks to launch Islamic banking services. The statement was given at the International Conference on Islamic Banking and Finance organised by AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics Pakistan in Mauritius.
The prpose of organising the conference was to promote Islamic banking in Mauritius and other African countries.

After Egypt was forced to postpone plans to introduce Islamic bond regulation because of the political unrest, it doesn't look very good for the country that tries to attract Muslim wealth.
Nigeria, a competitive country, plans to license at least two Shariah-compliant institutions by the end of the year. Mauritius set minimum disclosure standards for financial statements from banks offering Islamic services.
Therefore, it looks like Egypt will loose in front of theese countries.

Da Afghanistan Bank stated that it expects a new Islamic banking law to be enacted by September this year. The reason are the thirty years of war and insurgency that have reduced Afghanistan to a strong reliance on foreign aid.
The aim is to minimize the the nation's trust on overseas aid and rebuild the country's brittle economy.
The move would also draw billions in deposits from citizens wary of the conventional banking system. An Islamic banking law could brighten up the industry.

The International Halal Integrity Alliance has begun its work on guidelines relating to the use of sharia-compliant pharmaceuticals, finance and processed food which would be completed by the end of the year.
Cief executive officer Darhim Hashim said that seven other standars, that include the regulation of sharia-compliant restaurants, cosmetics, lab testing and animal slaughtering, were elaborated.
Members from the alliance are from Europe, India, the Phillipines, Cambodia and Australia.

Morocco plans to authorise first Islamic bonds. Central bank of Marocco wants to allow sukuk.

Pakistan will recieve $3bn from IDB for infrastructure, energy, agriculture, education and health projects. This is the largest commitment for IDB in the 35 years of partnership. This what soever doesn't mean that IDB will support the government of Pakistan budgetary.

The attenders at the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) will be, among others, central bank governors, representatives from Bahrain, the UAE, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Bahrain, and many international finance and economic experts.
The host of the conference will be the Central Bank of Luxembourg and the theme is "Enhancing Global Financial Stability. Challenges and Opportunities for Islamic Finance".

Morocco's central bank is in talks with the country's banking industry group GPBM on regulations that would allow sukuk.
The central bank started only in late 2007 to allow some banks to provide Islamic finance products, but does not issue licences for fully fledged Islamic institutions.

Sharia'h compliant insurance products will now be available in the market with the entry of Takaful Insurance of Africa.
In a speech read on his behalf by Tourism Minister, ccc, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka noted that Takaful encourages policyholders to cooperate among themselves for their common good, pay subscription to help the needy, spread liabilities and losses according to community pooling system besides eliminating uncertainties in respect to subscription compensation among others.

A first fully Shariah-compliant insurance cover initiative has been launched in Kenya. The Takaful Insurance of Africa Limited has introduced an insurance package grounded in Islamic Muamalat, the Islamic Banking Principles espoused in Islamic law and aims at serving all Kenyans across religious faiths. The Vice President called for a through study into principles that guide various insurance systems with a view to instilling best practices in the industry.

Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (KTPB) has set the tone by venturing abroad into Germany, Dubai, Bahrain and Kazakhstan and by pioneering new products based on physical gold and exporting them to markets in Malaysia and elsewhere through the global network of KFH. These include gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETFs), gold-backed banking accounts and sukuk. Ufuk Uyan, CEO of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank has been at the forefront of the expansion of KTPB, taking it to the top 10 tier of Turkish banks. Here Ufuk Uyan discusses with Arab News the state of the participation banking sector in Turkey, the performance of KTPB in 2010 and the prospects and challenges for the industry in 2011 and beyond.

Kenya has ambitions of becoming the Islamic finance hub of East Africa and has the first mover advantage. But contrary to recent reports that Kenya may pass legislation to eliminate tax barriers to sukuk issuance by the end of the year, Islamic bankers in East Africa's largest economy stress that it is highly unlikely that any major developments will occur in terms of tax neutrality and other legislation that is required to facilitate products such as sukuk in the local market.

The Islamic Development Bank Group has pledged financial support worth $3 billion for socio-economic development in Pakistan.
A high level technical mission led by Mr. Gurbuz Gonul from the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank group visited Pakistan during the period 13-22 March 2011 to embark on developing Member Country Partnership strategy (MCPS) that will lay out the partnership and cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Islamic Development Bank Group over the next four years (2012-2015).

CapAsia is going to provide $20.5m of equity capital to finance two wind farms in Pakistan. The firm made the investment through its Islamic Infrastructure Fund (IIF), a $262m vehicle sponsored by the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.

Alberto Brugnoni, ASSAIF, will moderate the Session on 'Finance and philanthropy' at the “4th World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists - Defining the Roadmap for the Next Decade” that will convene at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai on March 23-24, 2011

Muslim Philanthropy is at a crossroad, challenged to build new models of giving while simultaneously refining old methods embedded in vibrant Islamic tradition. The foremost challenge in the field is to promote strategic and accountable philanthropy that complements and enhances the generations-old conventional charity, which is often personal and spontaneous

The Session will examine within a common framework the failure of zakat to achieve most of its socio-economic objectives, the stagnation of waqf institutions in performing their designated social functions and the growing divergence between the aspirations of Islamic economics and the realities of the Islamic finance industry. It will also offer actionable programme plans for zakat and innovative ways of using the institution of waqf to establish social enterprises, as possible common solutions

Nigeria plans to license at least two Islamic financial institutions this year.
It will get help from Malaysia to expand its Sharia-compliant industry in a nation where 70 per cent of people have no access to regular banking services.
Nigeria signed an agreement with Malaysia's central bank to cooperate in Islamic financial services, which included boosting micro-lending.