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Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has managed to bring up Islamic finance as an ethical and sustainable business model in the global financial scene. In a TV series launched by Bloomberg TV and sponsored by ADIB, CEO of ADIB Tirad Al Mahmoud explained his view of Shari'a-compliant banking being a viable, resilient and ethical business model. Especially because of the global financial crisis, the demand for ethical banking all around the world has been extremely high.

Read more on: http://www.ameinfo.com/adib-islamic-finance-global-ethical-business-316817

After GFH Capital have shown enough proof of funds to complete the takeover of Leeds United, the acquisition is ready to be fulfilled. Thus, the long months of discussion starting May this year are over. According to current Leeds owner Ken Bates, both parties are ready to close the deal in the very near future. He also pointed out the negative effect of inaccurate reporting by some journalists due to lack of knowledge, which, however were not able to disturb the acquisition procedures as much.

Read more on: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2223470/Leeds-takeover...

The last couple of years of financial crisis proved to be unfavourable for the international banking sector. Nevertheless, one sub-sector was growing rapidly and reached significant success - Islamic finance. The majority of people still have not enough understanding and appreciation for Islamic finance. However, the facts show it is a US$1.3 trillion global industry with annual growth of 15% to 20%. During the past few years alone this sector has expanded to even not particularly expected markets adding to the portfolios of conventional international banks. The latter have already made the development of sharia-compliant services a priority.

Read more on: http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1071883/islamic-fina...

THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
ISLAMIC ECONOMICS AND FINANCE (ICIEF)
Growth, Equity and Stability: An Islamic Perspective
10-12 September 2013, Istanbul, TURKEY

The Ninth ICIEF at a Glance

Recovery from the global financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn remains fragile. Persistent risks to financial and economic development include sluggish growth in developed countries – which is now spilling over into developing economies as well; increasing income and wealth inequalities; and still-unrestored financial, economic and political stability in many regions. High poverty and unemployment rates, large macroeconomic imbalances, deteriorations in sovereign credibility, increasing food price volatility and food shortages, and lack of access to basic infrastructure further intensify and magnify these risks – particularly for the underprivileged segments of the world population. As a result, for many countries it has become even more challenging to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations.

According to data from World Bank, nine out of ten adults in Egypt do not have a bank account because they rarely have excess money to put in and do something with it. With a little number of clients, promoting Shariah- compliant financing is quite problematic. In order to enable the growth and profit of Islamic banking in the nation constituted mostly of Muslims, the Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi neesd to lift the country's economic growth from 2011’s 19-year low of 1.8%. New laws increasing the share of Shariah-compliant deposits from the current 6% and enabling borrowers to sell bonds in accordance with Shariah principles are being prepared by the President.

Read more on: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-24/egypt-s-savings-vacuum-shows-st...

This week, new report by Barclays and the Economist Social Intelligence Unit was issued. It focuses on financial inclusion worldwide and on the corresponding factors that influence it. Reasons for financial exclusion deriving from the emographic, geographic, political, and cultural area are discussed. Developing nations as well as developed ones are examined in terms of financial inclusion.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas gave its approval to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for selling the latter's stake in the Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines (Al-Amanah). The approval was issued on 20th of September. The next step is to obtain the approval of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG). After that it will be possible to proceed with the bidding process for its 99.88% stake in the country’s only Islamic bank.

Read more on: http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=BSP-approv...

Palestinian insurance company Al-Takaful registered net profit before taxes as high as $586,503 for the first nine months of the year. This is a 237% increase compared to the same period last year, when the net profit before taxes reached only $174,024. Al-Takaful's total assets reached $19,186,332 by the end of September this year - 8.8% more than for the whole of 2011. The total liabilities show an increase of 13.2% from $9,176,092 last year to $10,389,322 this year.

Read more on: http://www.cpifinancial.net/news/post/16473/al-takaful-palestinian-insur...

About a year ago, Nakheel issued about AED4bn ($1.09bn) of sukuk to its trade creditors. Some holders were quick to offloaded them on the secondary market being impatient to finally settle their outstanding bills from the company. This led to a crash in the sukuk prices, which reached down to 70% of their value. However, there has been a recovery in prices since then, so that now the price on the secondary market is almost the same as the price when holding the bonds to maturity. In addition, there are annual 10% coupon payments. In spite of the risks associated with Nakheel, this makes the high coupon very appealing.

Read more on: http://www.meed.com/sectors/construction/real-estate/nakheel-creditors-w...

The government of Oman chose KPMG to work on recommendations for the amendment to the tax legislation. The amendment aims to accommodate Islamic banking products and services. Thus, Shari'ah-compliant services will not be less favourable compared with conventional products any more.

Read more on: http://www.ameinfo.com/oman-commissions-kpmg-recommend-changes-tax-316728

Bank of Khartoum's plans include selling Islamic corporate bonds since after an oil deal with South Sudan the economic outlook for Sudan becomes better. This year's profit of the bank is expected to reach record amounts due to strong lending and a substantial windfall from the devaluation of the Sudanese pound. Several sukuks have already been started. According to the bank's general manager, issues worth $100 million in bonds for local companies are a realistic is a realistic goal to be achieved by early 2013.

Read more on: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/56460/Business/Economy/Suda...

The plans of the Oman government for the near future include an amendment to the current tax legislation. The goal of the amendment is accommodation of Islamic banking products and services as well as the creation of a level playing field with its conventional counterparts. The Ministry of Finance gave KPMG the project of recommendations on amending the tax legislation. Due to the different procedure regarding entering transactions, it is currently possible that the profit becomes liable to tax in the first year. This way, Islamic banks are likely to be considered disadvantageous in comparison with conventional banks.

Read more on: http://www.zawya.com/story/Oman_set_for_changes_in_tax_laws_to_suit_Isla...

The second Global Policy Forum of Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) took place in Bali last week. Beth Rhyne, the managing director of the Center for Financial Inclusion was a guest speaker at the forum and shared and explained what regulators were talking about. Some of the questions she answered concerned AFI's philosophy and concerns regarding consumer protection.

Read more on: http://cfi-blog.org/2010/10/06/%E2%80%98what-afi-is-doing-is-unprecedent...

Dubai Bank sent a letter to Skycourts unit owners financed by the bank, informing them about their intention of partial fee refund consistent with the principles of Shariah. According to a detailed review of the service fees paid against the financed unit with Dubai Bank, a resolution for additional benefit to Skycourts customers was made. The fee refunded takes into account the period from the moment the bank took the possession of the unit from the developer until the moment when a notice of delivery was sent to the customer by the bank.

Read more on: http://www.zawya.com/story/Dubai_Bank_refunds_overpaid_service_charges_t...

The 16th Annual Edition of “2012 State of the Future”, an overview of the global situation in terms of problems, solutions, and future prospects, is out. Jerome C. Glenn, CEO of The Millennium Project and co-author of the book, points out the controversy between better life, richness, better health, better education etc. on one side and high potential instability in about half of the world on the other. The new edition is available on CD, USB flash drive, and for download. The report includes research with numerous tables, graphs, and charts as well as extra chapters on on 15 Global Challenges, the State of the Future Index, changing stereotypes about women around the world over the past 50 years and projected next 50 years, future factors affecting cooperatives and businesses, and futures of ontologists.

Read more on: http://www.kurzweilai.net/2012-state-of-the-future

Together with The MasterCard Foundation, MIX has launched the “Africa Map of Financial Inclusion for the Poor” aiming to contribute to better understanding by practitioners and policymakers of the access to finance in Africa. Since until recently there was no proper information on financial services for the poor in Africa, thus limiting growth and investment in the sector, now the situation is about to change. Not only did MIX provide raw data from surveys and analysis of the data but also they released a visual map representing the data in an easily comprehensive way.

According to chief the executive officer of Alternative Bank of Switzerland (ABS), financial institutions worldwide must change their profit-mongering mindset. It is essential for them to replace the current principles with value-based banking practices in order to be able to contribute to the economy. Martin Rohner pointed out that the banks need to be brought back to their original economic purpose. The value-based approach removes profit from its first place, thus taking away the pressure of shareholders. Instead of striving for maximum profit, banks are to serve the community and the environment.

Read more on: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=254912

The takeover of Leeds United Football Club by GFH Capital raised disputes on the level of Shari’ah compliance associated with the deal. A statement by David Haigh, deputy chief executive officer and chief operating officer of GFH Capital, stumbled upon rather negative reception. He compared Leeds United to young Pamela Anderson in terms of good shape and future perspective. Also, the fact that a soccer club where alcohol, gambling and pork feature in the mix is subject of acquisition, the question arises whether it is at all compliant with the Shari’ah principles.

Read more on: http://www.theislamicglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

The first Islamic arbitration rules in the world were introduced last month by the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA). They are expected to enable further expansion of Islamic finance with total global assets. The value of the assets is now estimated to lie between US$1.2 trillion (RM3.72 trillion) to US$1.3 trillion (RM4.03 trillion). The new rules concern conventional as well as syariah-compliant commercial transactions and contracts. With the new rules, a complete syariah-compliant process for relevant parties to a dispute is possible.

Recently, the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS) took part in the Joint Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum and Arab Expatriate Scientists Network Symposium which took place at the Qatar National Convention Centre. Papers on the Qatar National Research Strategy by four researchers were presented. The research papers mainly deal with the topics of Qatar’s national priorities and the renaissance and reform movement in Qatar. One of the presentations, prepared and performed by senior researcher Bahnaz al-Qura Daqi, was titled ‘Risk Management among Islamic and Conventional Banks - A comparative study of Qatari banks registered in Qatar Financial Market’.

Read more on: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=539247...