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Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar is the founder and executive chairman of Amanie Advisors. He chairs the Sharia'a Advisory Council at the Central Bank of Malaysia, the Securities Commission of Malaysia. A Sharia'a board member on various financial institutions in Malaysia and the Middle East, Dr Bakar is also deputy chairman on the board of Al Madina Takaful in Oman. Dr Bakar was recently in Muscat to attend Al Madina's Sharia'a board meeting. He spoke about the global Islamic finance industry and shared his views on the outlook for Oman's Islamic banking and takaful markets. He said that in Oman, awareness needs to be spread at all levels through all available channels.

Bahrain's Khaleeji Commercial Bank 's (KHCB) has recently signed an agreement with T'azur Islamic Insurance Company, one of Bahrain's Takaful International Islamic insurance Company providers. The agreement aims to provide Comprehensive and Third Party insurance services for vehicles, property, travel and tourism including other personal insurance products at KHCB 's branch in Budaiya. The signing ceremony was held recently at the Khaleeji Commercial Bank headquarters in the presence of KHCB Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Khalil Al Meer and T'azur Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yahya Nooruddin, along with management officials and high-level representatives from both parties.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), has announced Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) as the women’s empowerment partner for Islamic Banking for the year-long campaign to celebrate and promote the role of women in the financial and banking sector. The year-long campaign has already featured a series of events, including a number of roundtable and town hall sessions that have brought industry leaders and women of all levels within the sector together to discuss and debate topics of importance. These events culminate with the main Women in the Financial and Banking Sector Conference being held on Nov. 30, at the Four Seasons Hotel, Bahrain Bay.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), has announced Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) as the women’s empowerment partner for Islamic Banking for the year-long campaign to celebrate and promote the role of women in the financial and banking sector. The year-long campaign has already featured a series of events, including a number of roundtable and town hall sessions that have brought industry leaders and women of all levels within the sector together to discuss and debate topics of importance. These events culminate with the main Women in the Financial and Banking Sector Conference being held on Nov. 30, at the Four Seasons Hotel, Bahrain Bay.

A.M. Best this week moved Abu Dhabi National Takaful Co. (ADNTC) from stable to positive with a financial strength rating of B++. ADNTC’s solid risk adjusted capitalization and track record of excellent underwriting processes are reflected in the new ratings. These positive factors were partially offset by an accumulated deficit within the policyholders’ fund and a modest, albeit growing, business profile. The revised outlook reflects ADNTC’s improved balance of earnings between policyholder and shareholder funds and enhanced enterprise risk management.

Helped by growing awareness of Sharia’a-compliant banking services and increasing number of branches, the Islamic banking sector in the sultanate recorded robust growth during the first half of 2015. The combined assets of the sector surged 64 per cent to RO1.83bn as of June 30, 2015 against RO1.11bn a year ago. Islamic banking now accounts for 6.3 per cent of the total banking assets in Oman. Total financing by Islamic banks and windows jumped by 85 per cent to RO1.38bn from RO745mn. Oman's Islamic banking sector comprises two fully-fledged Islamic banks (Bank Nizwa and alizz islamic bank) and six Islamic banking windows of locally incorporated commercial banks.

GCC Board Directors Institute ("BDI") has appointed H+K Strategies ("H+K") as content partner to the Institute for a period of three years. The other content partners are PwC, McKinsey & Co, Heidrick& Struggles and Allen &Overy, while supported by the Capital Market Authorities in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE, Qatar Financial Centre and the Central Bank of Bahrain. Launched in 2007, BDI is the pre-eminent organization for boards and directors in the Gulf helping boards become more effective so that organizations may perform better and grow. In its capacity of content partner, H+K will contribute with knowledge on matters critical to board effectiveness in today's multi-faceted and high-speed communications environment.

Saudi Arabian dairy producer Almarai will issue a senior sukuk of up to 2 billion riyals ($533 million) to help finance investment plans, it said on Tuesday in a statement published on the bourse website. The sukuk will be offered to local investors and is subject to market conditions, it said in its statement, adding it had mandated HSBC Saudi Arabia and Samba Capital and Investment Management Co to act as joint lead managers.

Bank Sohar has appointed Salim Khamis Al Maskari, the former senior assistant general manager of branches, as the head of Sohar Islamic, Bank Sohar’s Islamic banking window. Prior to joining Bank Sohar in 2007, Salim Al Maskari had worked as the district manager of the Sharquiyah region for Oman International Bank and later moved to Bank Muscat as the regional manager of the north capital region. He has more than 29 years of experience in the banking sector in Oman and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hull, UK. He also completed his Certification in Islamic Banking and Takaful Products (CIMA) examinations in 2015.

Saudi's Ijmal LLC has hired Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB), to help achieve Sharia Compliance in all its business activities. In this role, SRB will lead and oversee the company's Sharia compliant operations with global standards. Ijmal was incorporated in 2014 by Al Deghaither Group, Al-Othaim Holding, ICD and Nizwa Bank. Ijmal partners with real estate developers through a hybrid structure that incentivizes developers to achieve better quality products. Ijmal started its operations targeting developments located in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Khobar. So far, Ijmal has partnered with one developer building 68 sea-front apartments in Kohbar Saudi Arabia.

Kuwait-based Wethaq Takaful Insurance Company intends to sell its stake in the Egyptian unit, Wethaq Takaful Egypt for KWD1.3 million (US$4.3 million). The board of the Kuwaiti insurer had given Wednesday the go-ahead to sell its stake in the Egyptian unit in favour of a buyer whose name was not mentioned in the company's statement to the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange. The Shareholders' structure in Wethaq Egypt includes: Wethaq Takaful Insurance Company of Kuwait (60%), Kuwait-based Adeem Investment and Wealth Management Company (39.9%), and Kuwaiti investor Najeeb Al-Humaidhi (0.1%).

Barwa Bank has promoted Talal Ahmad Al Khaja (pictured) to Chief Communications officer. Al Khaja will oversee marketing and communications and public and shareholder relations. Prior to joining the bank in 2009, he worked across private sector institutions and organisations. Holding a Master’s in business management, a bachelor’s degree from Qatar University, and professional certifications, he has amassed over nine years’ experience in administration, marketing, public relations and corporate governance. During his tenure at the bank, he has contributed to acquisitions of the group’s affiliate companies and subscription management in capital financing in 2011. His efforts led to the establishment of the group’s Investor and Shareholder Relations Department.

Fresh off the back of a strong first-half performance to the year, Qatar International Islamic Bank’s Chief Executive Officer and director Abdulbasit Ahmad Al-Shaibei is basking in a bumper era of growth. The bank has seen its profits grow by around 4-17 per cent every year since 2010 and, if the first six months of this year are any indication, 2015 should maintain the positive run. QIIB announced a net profit of 438 million riyals ($120.3 million) for the first half of the year, a 9 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2014. Al-Shaibei is seeing opportunity for further growth in some unconventional places.

Momentum is building for economic relations between the Gulf States and Turkey, economists say. Turkey can increase the existing trade volume with the Gulf States by setting sector-based targets and by taking advantage of international conditions, according to Sedat Kutlu, an expert with the Turkish Arab Countries Businessmen’s Association. Exports and imports can open access to a broad base of businesspeople, The Economist Intelligence Unit noted in a July report that Turkey is developing as an increasingly important economic partner for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) countries. Trade volume between Turkey and the GCC was close to $16 billion in 2014, according to EIU statistics, up from about $5 billion in 2005.

After delivering strong results in 2014, Islamic banks in the Gulf region face a gradually weakening operating outlook in 2015-2016, largely due to declining oil revenues, says a report published today by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. But as the report, titled "Gulf-Based Islamic Banks Grapple With Weakening Regional Economies," also points out, we believe investor demand for Sharia-compliant products and supportive government actions will enable Islamic banks in the region to continue to grow. In S&P's opinion, the two most important factors influencing the Islamic banks' faster growth are an increasing demand for both retail and corporate Sharia-compliant banking products and government initiatives designed to support Islamic finance.

Kuwait Finance House plans to shed its stake in education investment company Nafais Holding. KFH is currently restructuring its activities, which could also include a sale of assets such as its Malaysian business. This is ahead of planned divestments by its largest shareholder, the Kuwait Investment Authority. The Islamic bank is the second-largest shareholder in Nafais with a 19.01 percent stake. Nafais, involved in education, healthcare, financing and investment, has a market capitalisation of around $206 million, which would value the bank's stake at close to $40 million. The Islamic bank only acquired the Nafais stake in March 2014 from Aref Group Company.

Khalid Alsweilem, a former senior official at Saudi Arabia's central bank says he believes the kingdom may soon change the way it manages its oil wealth as part of efforts to protect its financial reserves in an era of cheap crude. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency ( SAMA ) manages the vast bulk of petrodollars earned by the world's top oil exporting country; net foreign assets at the central bank totalled $664.5 billion in June. Alsweilem, who managed the assets as chief investment officer at SAMA , argues the arrangement is dangerous because the finance ministry can draw freely on the reserves when it wants to cover budget deficits caused by periods of low oil prices.

GFH Financial Group has announced its financial results for the first half of 2015 ended June 30, 2015. For the first six months of 2015, the Group reported a net profit of US$13.6 million compared with US$14.8 million during the prior year period. Net profit for the second quarter of 2015 was US$7.6 million versus US$12.4 million reported in the second quarter of 2014. Last year's results included a one-off income of US$33 million as a result of a recovery. Excluding this one-off gain, net profit for the first six months of 2015 increased to US$13.6 million compared to a loss of US$18.2 million for the prior year period.

After delivering strong results in 2014, Islamic banks in the Gulf face a gradually weakening operating outlook in 2015-2016, largely due to declining oil revenues, says a report published today by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. But as the report, titled Gulf-Based Islamic Banks Grapple With Weakening Regional Economies, also points out, Standard & Poor’s believes investor demand for Shari’ah-compliant products and supportive government actions will enable Islamic banks in the region to continue to grow and gradually increase their market share. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates continue to offer the strongest growth opportunities in the GCC region.

Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced a net profit of US$ 150 million for the first half of 2015, reporting an increase of 5% over the net profit of the same period of last year, while the net income of the second quarter of 2015 reached US$ 82 million, increasing by 19% over the net income of the first quarter of 2015. The balance sheet items achieved moderate increases, as total assets increased by 2%, total financing and investments by 2% and customer accounts by 1% at the end of June 2015 compared to the end December 2014. During the first half of 2015, the premier rating agency in the world Standard & Poors’ (S&P) had re-affirmed ABG’s rating of BB+ (long term) and B (Short term), upgrading the Outlook to Stable.