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Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) beat the average forecast of analysts as it reported a 27 percent jump in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday. The Islamic lender made a net profit of 494.7 million riyals ($131.9 million) during the period, compared with 389.8 million riyals in the same period a year ago. The lender did not provide a detailed breakdown of its earnings. Qatar Islamic Bank posted net profit of 895.1 million riyals in the first half of the year, higher than 725.2 million riyals it reported a year-ago, according to its statement to the bourse.

John Sandwick of Safa Invest discussed the opportunity of Islamic Asset Management seeing great potential and describing it as the new frontier for Islamic Banking. He stated the rise in oil prices which began their ascent in 2002 from $9 to $150 per barrel also witnessed a parallel growth in Islamic Banking, as the oil producing economies of the Gulf and South East Asia benefited from large inflows of capital some of which helped fund an emerging Islamic banking market. One sector which has failed to evolve as fast is Islamic Asset Management, an area which according to Mr Sandwick, Switzerland with its historical ties to the Asian and Gulf market it is primed to develop.

The nonconsolidated loss of Bank Asya in the first quarter of this year was TL 5.8 million ($2.2 million), according to the income statement the bank released on the Public Disclosure Platform. The bank had made a TL 40.81 million net profit in the same period of last year. Bank Asya's net loss by the end of 2014 was TL 813 million. While the total assets of the bank were TL 23.2 billion in the first quarter of 2014, this figure decreased to TL 11.97 billion in the same period of 2015. On May 29, Turkish banking regulators approved the decision to seize all of Bank Asya's shares due to the bank's failure to fulfill its obligations despite the measures taken by Turkey's banking watchdog, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).

CIMB Islamic Bank’s chief executive officer and board member Badlisyah Abdul Ghani will resign all his posts effective Aug 15, 2015. Badlisyah also heads CIMB Group Bhd’s Islamic banking and finance franchise. In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, CIMB Islamic Bank’s board of directors announced it has elected Mohd Shafri Shahul Hamid as the person-in-charge of the bank and agreed for the group nomination and remuneration committee to start the process of identifying Badlisyah’s replacement. Badlisyah courted controversy last week when he questioned the validity of documents used by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in its recent reports which claimed billions of ringgit were deposited into accounts belonging to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Qatari firm Barwa Real Estate Company, has raised $175m through an Islamic loan from International Bank of Qatar to refinance its existing debt. The sharia-compliant loan will last for seven years from the date that the company draws down on the facility. In an effort to refinance its current debt obligations, Barwa Real Estate intends to increase the lifespan of the maturities on the best available terms, as part of its five-year business plan running between 2016 and 2020. As Qatar’s largest listed developer, Barwa Real Estate reported more than doubling its fourth quarter net profit in March this year, as well as an improved dividend payout for the full year. Barwa Real estate is listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange.

The State Bank of Pakistan has given a Rs20-billion concessionary loan, including Rs5 billion at an incredibly low rate of 0.01%, to BankIslami to meet capital requirements following the amalgamation of KASB Bank into it. It has highlighted transparency issues pertaining to the BankIslami and KASB Bank amalgamation, as the central bank did not extend the facility through competitive bidding.In protest against the move, a minority shareholder of KASB Bank has lodged a complaint with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The complainant, Shaheena Wajid Mirza, requested the anti-corruption watchdog to investigate the SBP governor and other officials of the central bank and Ministry of Finance for alleged corrupt practices and misuse of authority.

Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt (FAIT) has achieved profits volume of 387.1 million Egyptian pounds (US$49.4 million) within the first half of 2015 versus EGP 351.48 million in the same period of 2014 marking 10% increase. The bank's revenues has been increased to 2.15 billion Egyptian pounds in six months opposed to 1.81 billion within the first half of 2014 registering 19% increase. The volume of bank's total assets also has been boosted to EGP 53.2 billion at the end of June 2015 compared to EGP 49.05 billion at the end of 2014 with 8.5% increase. The business volume of Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt has recorded EGP 53.2 billion. Moreover, the number of accounts managed by the bank has been increased from 1.083 million at the end of June 2014 to 1.086 million at the end of June 2015.

The combined pre-tax profit of the Islamic banking industry surged to Rs4.8 billion in the first quarter of 2015, which depicts 48% growth on a year-on-year basis. The rise in the profitability of the Islamic banking industry in January-March was mainly on the back of earnings growth of 95% recorded by Islamic banking divisions (IBDs) of conventional banks. In contrast, the combined profitability of Islamic banks increased 17.6% in January-March on an annual basis. Assets of the Islamic banking industry grew by 28.2% in January-March on an annual basis to Rs1.3 trillion. Similarly, its deposits stood at Rs1.1 trillion at the end of March after recording a growth of 28.7% over the preceding 12 months.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) obtained an Islamic Financial Business endorsement to operate an Islamic Window from the Dubai Financial Services Agency on 8 July, 2015. This approval has enabled its Dubai Branch to offer both conventional and Islamic financial services to customers. BTMU commenced its Islamic finance services in 2008 through its Malaysian subsidiary. Since then, the Bank has accumulated various skill sets and expertise regarding Islamic finance services such as deposits and loans. BTMU opened its Dubai Representative Office (now Dubai Branch) in 2007. It will be the Bank’s central hub of Islamic finance services in Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC is planning expansion in Africa markets to tap demand in countries with a large Muslim population. In Africa, the bank has looked closely at Algeria and Morocco, Chief Executive Officer Tirad Mahmoud said. The bank may consider an acquisition next year as part of the plan, he added. The bank also applied for licenses in Algeria and Libya and is considering Tunisia and Morocco. The bank was among lenders that bid to buy the retail banking assets of Citigroup Inc. in Egypt this year, losing out to Commercial International Bank Egypt SAE last month. Mahmoud believes the banking industry is on the cusp of a historic transformation that will see a convergence between conventional and ethical banking.

The Malaysian Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) on July 9 said that six bank accounts, ordered frozen on Monday as part of a 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) probe, were not linked to the prime minister, as his accounts with AmBank Islamic had already been closed by then. The task force is investigating allegations in a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that up to US$700 million from state-owned fund 1MDB had been transferred to Mr Najib for personal use. Mr Najib refuted the accusations in a statement on Wednesday, reiterating he had never obtained funds from 1MDB for his personal gain. The AGC also detailed items seized in a raid of the 1MDB office in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, including minutes of meetings of the 1MDB Board of Directors.

Indonesian financial authorities are considering to ease foreign ownership limits for local Islamic banks and to promote new sharia-compliant financial tools in an effort to make the Islamic finance industry more attractive to foreign investors and the Indonesian population. The current low market share of Islamic banking in Indonesia in combination with the recent high growth pace and government support implies that there is plenty of room for further growth of the Islamic banking industry in Indonesia. In this context, Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) developed and launched a five-year roadmap earlier this year, which aims to triple the market share of Islamic banks to 15 percent by 2023. The OJK also announced that it considers to ease ceilings on foreign ownership for Islamic banks.

State-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand, branded as IBank, has become the target of domestic and foreign investors, including from the Middle East, according to its chairman Chaiwat Uthaiwan. In an effort to rehabilitate its business, the country’s State Enterprise Policy Office agreed to allow local or foreign private investors to acquire more than 50% of stakes in the bank. According to IBank’s chairman, several Asian financial houses including some from the Middle East were interested to take over a larger stake. But this could happen only next year because the bank has to separate its good and bad assets first before it could think about a stake sale, he added. At present, IBank tries to restructure $1.7bn of bad loans out of a total loan amount of close to $3bn. Net loss in 2014 was around $300mn.

CIMB Group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak has ordered an internal inquiry on a senior executive of its Islamic banking unit who yesterday accused US-based Wall Street Journal (WSJ) of being duped by doctored documents in its explosive money trail exposé on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Nazir disclosed the action in a late night post on his Instagram account, after news portal Malaysiakini reported CIMB Islamic Bank chief executive officer Badlisyah Abdul Ghani for his erroneous analysis on WSJ in his closed-circuit Facebook page. Badlisyah has admitted to making an error in his analysis of the WSJ documents, which the daily purports were based on an ongoing government investigation on 1MDB, adding that he has also corrected his initial Facebook post.

Gulf Finance House (GFH) is planning to make an acquisition this year and sell a unit in an initial public offering. The expected moves are part of efforts to reshape GFH, which was hit hard by the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Currently the Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank has four units: investment banking, commercial banking, real estate and industry. GFH’s first quarter net profit rose 140 per cent to US$6 million from $2.5m a year earlier. GFH, which is talking to one firm in Bahrain and two in Dubai, is banking on closing this year with at least one leveraged acquisition valued at about $200m. The firm is seeking to finance the acquisition through 30 to 40 per cent equity and the remainder in debt.

La banque Emiratie, ‘Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank’ s’apprêterait à entrer au marché bancaire marocain, par des investissements programmés pour l’année 2016. Selon le PDG du groupe, Tirad Al Sheikh Mahmoud, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank serait à la recherche d’opération de rachat de banques au royaume sachant que le banking islamique y est en lancement. Tirad Al Sheikh Mahmoud a exprimé le même intérêt de son établissement, pour des investissements similaires en Malaisie, en Indonésie ou en Jordanie. Au Maroc, en Novembre 2014, la chambre des représentants a adopté une nouvelle loi sur la finance islamique, autorisant la création au Maroc, de banques ou filiales islamiques et autorisant l’émission des Sukuks.

Bahrain-based Ibdar Bank has appointed Mr. Ahmed Al-Rayes as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the Bank. Effective 9 June 2015, Mr. Al-Rayes is responsible for leading the investment and wealth management teams and for establishing and implementing investment strategies to expand the Bank's investments horizon. This includes both broadening Ibdar's client base, strengthening existing relationships with key clients and partners and building relationships with international institutions globally. Mr. Al-Rayes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bahrain and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. He has also completed a number of executive and Islamic training programmes in the region and internationally.

Several banks and financial institutions in the UAE are building provisions as a precautionary measure in anticipation of possible bad debts they may face in the future, the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank said. Tirad Al Mahmoud also said that since not all borrowers they deal with are registered with the UAE’s Etihad Credit Bureau, their data is unknown. At present, ADIB’s rejection rate for loan applications it receives is between nine to 10 per cent, which may drop or rise once the Etihad Credit Bureau’s report on an individual or corporate covers the financial data on all the customers of all banks and financial institutions operating in the country.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC is considering entering markets in South East Asia and Africa to tap demand in countries with a large Muslim population. The bank has “looked closely” at Indonesia and Malaysia as well as Algeria, Morocco and Jordan, Chief Executive Officer Tirad Mahmoud stated. The bank may consider an acquisition next year as part of the plan, he said. ADIB in 2014 acquired the retail banking business of Barclays Plc in the U.A.E. for 650 million dirhams ($177 million). The bank was also among lenders that bid to buy the retail banking assets of Citigroup Inc. in Egypt this year, losing out to Commercial International Bank Egypt SAE last month. ADIB expects lending to grow by four percent to six percent this year, Mahmoud added.

Md Mustafa Khair has recently been promoted as the deputy managing director of First Security Islami Bank. Prior to the promotion, Khair has been serving the bank as senior executive vice president, the bank said in a statement. He started his banking career at Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha, which is now known as Bangladesh Development Bank. He also worked with IFIC Bank and Dutch-Bangla Bank before joining First Security Islami Bank in 2006, according to the statement.