IslamicFinance.de

The possibility of the first sovereign or corporate sukuk origination out of France took a step nearer when the French government announced that it had passed new instructions to facilitate the introduction of sukuk, Ijara, Murabaha and Istisna products in France.

It is claimed that France now has a tax neutrality regime in place for facilitating Islamic financial products including Islamic bonds and certificates; cost-plus-financing; leasing and construction industry forward financing.

French banks such as Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, UBAF, Calyon (Banque Credit Agricole) have long been involved in global Islamic finance. BNP Paribas for instance recently listed its first Islamic exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Asia on Bursa Malaysia. Some two years ago it had advised the Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, to launch its first Islamic ETF, MyETF i. The new measures are not limited to a particular transaction but form a basis for a framework for Murabaha, Istisna, Ijara and sukuk transactions which satisfy both French law and Shariah principles.

Qatar Islamic Bank's subsidiary European Finance House (EFH) has recently rebranded as QIB UK in order to reinforce its positioning within QIB's expanding global network.The change was instituted at the beginning of August and acts to unify the brand in order to keep consistency across local and international markets. The primary motivation behind the rebranding is to further bring EFH under the umbrella of QIB's well established identity as one of the regions foremost Islamic banking institutions, and the world's 4th largest Islamic bank in terms of assets. The change in name acts to enhance QIB UK's profile within the Islamic finance industry. The institution's aim is to achieve outstanding outcomes and solutions for its diverse clientele by implementing the expertise of its international team in combination with proven strategies and techniques.

The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is gearing up for its latest sukuk offering under its Medium Term Note (MTN) or Trust Certificate Issuance Program. The IDB, according to Mohamed Tariq, senior adviser to the President Ahmad Mohamed Ali, was poised to go to the international financial markets in September this year. In Kuala Lumpur last week, Abdul Aziz Al-Hinai, vice president, finance, IDB, confirmed that the IDB plans to go to the market in the last quarter of 2010. Another international rating agency, Moody's Investors Service, last month had already reaffirmed for a fifth consecutive year the Islamic Development Bank's Aaa long term and P-1 short term foreign currency issuer rating with a stable outlook. Moody's stated that the IDB's rating is strongly supported by the commitment of its member countries, and highlighted that the capital base of the bank is strong, its operational assets continue to perform well, it has a high level of liquidity and very low level of debt. Moody's concluded that the bank's risk profile is likely to remain healthy over the medium term.

Kuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi AS is planning a second sale of Shariah-compliant debt for 2012. Kuveyt Turk, the Istanbul-based bank owned by Kuwait Finance House KSC, may sell more than $100 million of five-year sukuk. Islamic bond offerings may accelerate in the next 18 months, led by countries new to the market, Mohamed Damak, a Paris-based credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s. Policies to promote assets that follow Islamic law are spreading to Europe from Asia.

In 2010 Qatar Islamic Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Banque Populaire Caisse d'Epargne, France's second largest banking group, in order to gain access to the French retail banking and small medium-size business markets. Recently, Paris Europlace signed an agreement with AAOIFI paving the way for greater cooperation to drive the development of Islamic finance in France.

PricewaterhouseCoopers offers a full day event about Takaful in Germany language. Below more details:

PwC Talk
Sharia-konforme Lebensversicherungsprodukte
16. September 2010, Köln
20. September 2010, München

Während Sharia-konforme Bankprodukte auf Veranstaltungen bereits recht eingehend diskutiert wurden, ist das Thema Sharia-konformer Lebensversicherungsprodukte bisher kaum Gegenstand eines fachlichen Forums gewesen. Die Veranstaltung möchte daher den Versuch unternehmen, diesem weißen Fleck auf der deutschen Landkarte der Produktentwicklung eine erste Topographie zu geben. Der wachsende Anteil der muslimischen Bevölkerung in Deutschland und Europa ist hierzu hinreichender Anlass.

Zielgruppe

Die Veranstaltung richtet sich an Führungskräfte und Mitarbeiter von Versicherungsunternehmen aus den
Bereichen Kapitalanlage und Steuern/Recht sowie Führungskräfte und Mitarbeiter von Kreditinstituten,
Investmentbanken oder Asset-Management-Gesellschaften für die Bereiche Versicherungen, Steuern/Recht und Investment/ Kapitalanlage.

In the current issues the following questions are discussed:

How should we recognize excellence in the Islamic finance industry?
How do we identify greatness – of bankers and financiers, of lawyers, of consultants, of scholars?
How do we discourage a culture of „Islamic Awards for Cash??
How do we develop an „Islamic? methodology for rewarding achievement?

"THE CONCEPT AND OPERATIONS OF SWAP AS A HEDGING MECHANISM FOR ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS"

The main objective of this paper is to give a clearer picture of the swap mechanism as offered by the international Islamic financial institutions and how its operations are structured in accordance with Shariah principles and contracts. In preparing this paper, ISRA has held a series of internal discussions as well as with outside parties, including Shariah experts and operating officers from international banks directly involved in the structuring of Shariah-compliant swap products. Documents related to the products and related academic materials were also referred to, giving a wider and thorough perspective on the issue.

by

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki
Head of Research Affairs Department
International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA)

Shabnam Mokhtar
Researcher
International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA)

Download: http://www.isra.my/media-centre/downloads/summary/29/216.html

Financial Services Providers and Consumer Protection - Two Worlds?"
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Dear colleague and fellow stakeholder of financial services,

The European Coalition for Responsible Credit will be holding its international stakeholder conference “Financial Services Providers and Consumer Protection - Two Worlds?" on 2nd and 3rd July in Hamburg. The event, organised by coalition partner iff and supported by the German consumer associations and the working group on debt advice of the associations (AG SBV) will gather consumer organisations, debt and money advisers, bankers, financial service providers, policy makers, academics and politicians to discuss current issues in retail markets for financial services in Europe and elsewhere.

Ernst & Young prepared a statement in response to a query by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany regarding he tax assessment of selected Islamic finance contractual models. The attached report covers the main findings including an English summary.

Press Release

European Finance House Offshore Sharia Fund Assigned 'AAf/S1+' Fund Credit Quality
And Volatility Ratings

LONDON, May 4, 2010--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned
its 'AAf' fund credit quality and its 'S1+' fund volatility ratings to EFH Funds SCA
SICAV-SIF - Liquidity Subfund (the "subfund"), a Luxembourg-domiciled U.S
dollar-denominated liquidity fund, managed by European Finance House (EFH). This is
the first Standard & Poor's fund credit quality and fund volatility rating assigned
to an offshore Islamic fund.

Fund credit quality ratings generally reflect our assessment of the level of
protection against losses from credit defaults and are based on an analysis of the
credit quality of the portfolio investments and the likelihood of counterparty
defaults.

Fund volatility ratings generally reflect Standard & Poor's view of the fund's
sensitivity to interest rate movements, credit risk, investment diversification or
concentration, liquidity, leverage, and other factors.

The ratings reflect Standard & Poor's analysis of the subfund's credit quality and

Press Release

Islamic Investors' Risk Tolerance Will Determine Demand For Sharia Fund Ratings,
Report Says

LONDON, May 4, 2010--The economic boom in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region
has fueled the emergence of Islamic finance in the international market in the past
decade. Revenue growth in this region has particularly benefited the asset
management sector, as Standard & Poor's noted in a report published today (see "Using Fund Ratings To Assess Credit And Market Risks In Sharia Funds").

The Middle East is by far the largest market for Sharia-compliant funds, but
conventional players in Europe, South Africa, and the U.S. have also launched a
number of funds that comply with Sharia law during past years, enhancing their
product range to meet the specific requirements of Islamic investors seeking to
invest in this asset class.

The number of product types remains limited, which Standard & Poor's Ratings
Services believes is largely due to the nascent nature of Sharia funds. Funds also
have to be invested in ways that are permitted under Islamic law. Sharia funds,
unlike traditional bond funds, do not invest in conventional rated fixed-income

FINANCE & ETHICS: DAS POTENTIAL VON ISLAMIC FINANCE, SRI, SPARKASSEN
HERAUSGEBER:
ALBERT LÖHR UND MILENA V. VALEVA
VERLAG: HAMPP, R; AUFLAGE: 1., AUFLAGE (1. APRIL 2010)
ISBN: 978-3866184558
Language: German

English SUMMARY
The global financial crisis of 2008/2009 found its initial expression in the banking crisis. The crisis made it unequivocally clear, that the exclusion of morals and ethics from the under-standing of finance should not continue. The question at hand is: Are ethics in the financial realm conceivable? Which normative understandings of finance are justifiable? Which im-plementation approaches of ethics and finance could be derived from theory and practice?

The IFSB said the National Bank of Tajikistan, Prudential Hong Kong, along with Malaysia-based OCBC Al Amin Bank and the Islamic reinsurance unit of Germany's Munich Re will join as "observer" members,

Gatehouse Bank, has bought two student accommodation properties for £29.2m.

Islamic financial bodies, which adhere to religious proscriptions against interest, have a market potential of at least $5.0 trillion, Moody's Investors Service said yesterday.

The 4th executive summmary now focusses on over 220 Shariah scholars with exposure to the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC), including their international board memberships with 1050+ board positions in almost 300
institutions and 24 countries.

It is the single most detailed analysis on Sharia Boards and their scholars published.