IslamicFinance.de

Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah reported on 12 June in the Tribune about a seminar for charities to comply with US provisions in their country.

The Internal Revenue Service, the MacArthur Foundation and a group of lawyers called Muslim Advocates instructed Chicago-area leaders in proper ways to report the collection of foreign funds, keep bookkeeping transparent and otherwise reassure U.S. officials that the money they raise never will end up in the hands of terrorists. The initiative has been inspired by a new generation of leaders and by what many Muslims perceive as a new climate under President Barack Obama, who mentioned the issue of charity, or zakat, during his landmark speech to the Islamic world from Egypt last week.

Thomas Weisel Asset Management LLC partnered to form an alliance with IdealRatings, Inc. to create funds and separately managed accounts to invest in small and mid-cap U.S. companies.

Through an initial investment by Thomas Weisel Asset Management, IdealRatings, Inc. will manage the process of achieving individually tailored Shariah compliance for Thomas Weisel Asset Management clients, including supplying software, research tools and scholar support.

IdealRatings, Inc. and Thomas Weisel Asset Management will target Shariah focused investors, Islamic institutions and international family offices.

A new report released today by management consultancy Arthur D. Little entitled “Islamic Finance Comes of Age” has identified a surge in activity around Islamic finance as a promising opportunity for the global financial services industry as it emerges from the current recession. With Islamic finance assets currently standing at USD 800 bn, Arthur D. Little expects this figure to surge to as much as USD 4 trillion in the next six years, representing a major opportunity for Western financial institutions looking to develop new partnerships and global markets.

The report can be downloaded after free registration at: http://www.adlittle.com/islamic_finance

Jessica Mador reported on 1 March on Minnesota Public Radio that the state's housing agency Minnesota Housing is launching a new program offering Islamic mortgages.

Chicago-based Devon Bank is underwriting the loans for the New Markets program. Devon is one of the largest Islamic lenders in the country. Corporate Counsel David Loundy says he expects the demand for Islamic financing to grow as more Muslims make their home in the U.S. Loundy says Muslims tend to be good risks.

Mr. Siddiqui joined Thomson Reuters from Dow Jones, where he was Global Director for their Islamic Market Indices at Thomson Reuters he is appointed Rushdi Siddiqui to lead its Islamic Finance business.

Thomson Reuters, which has been active in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia since 1865, has strong Islamic Finance assets covering leading content, news, analytics and trading capabilities. In this newly created role, Mr. Siddiqui will be utilizing these assets and working closely with Islamic finance and banking professionals including fund managers, treasury, financial hubs, regulators, stock exchanges, central banks, Takafol (insurance) entities, Halal industry, intra-OIC (57 Muslim countries), trade, investment, as well as others to strengthen and grow this business.

Basil Moftah is Managing Director for Thomson Reuters in the Middle East and Africa.

The US subsidiary of Emaar Properties, John Laing Homes, has sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to sharp decline in home sales.

University Bank was nationally acknowledged by the American Bankers Association for its innovative programs to increase homeownership opportunities at the American Bankers Association's National Conference for Community Bankers in Phoenix, Ariz. on Feb. 17.

The selection committee lauded University Bank for its innovative programs such as home financings for Muslim customers. Muslims are much less likely to be homeowners on average due to religious prohibitions on the payment or receipt of interest. University Bank designed a program to meet these needs, which has so far resulted in over USD 50 mn of financings for the purchase of homes by Muslim customers of the bank.

Press Release - full text attached:

New York (January 27, 2009) — Based on the close of trading on January 26, the global Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index, which measures the performance of 100 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks globally, lost -5.55% month-to-date, closing at 1646.71. In comparison, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index, which measures the 50 biggest companies worldwide, posted a loss of -9.00%, closing at 131.03.

- The Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in the Asia/Pacific region, decreased -9.90%, closing at 1252.00. The Dow Jones Asian Titans 50 Index, in comparison, posted a loss of -11.40%, closing at 90.89.

- Measuring Europe, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Europe Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of the 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in Europe, closed at 1596.39, a loss of -7.60%, while the pan-European blue chip Dow Jones STOXX 50 Index lost -10.97%, closing at 1926.07.

Reuters published the release of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on 14 January regarding the downgrading of East Cameron Gas Co.'s USD 165.67 mn Sukuk series 2006 to 'CC' from 'CCC+' and placed it on CreditWatch with negative implications. The downgrade reflects the negative impact caused by shortfall enforcement event on the overriding royalty interest in oil and gas reserves (ORRI), which is the primary collateral for the Sukuk.

US based Javelin Investment Management LLC plans to launch the JETS Dow Jones Islamic Market International Index Fund according to the Wall Street Journal on 8 January. Further details were not provided.

Reuters reported on 20 April that JP Morgan eyes a stake in Kuwait Finance House quoting a local daily al-Anba based on an unsourced report. The local paper shall have said that the U.S. bank had applied to the central bank of Kuwait to approve a stake buy, adding it was unclear how large a stake it wanted to acquire.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSL2066795520080420

ProLogis released on 8 April that they entered into a 50/50 joint venture agreement to create ProLogis Middle
East with Arcapita, an Islamic investment bank based in Bahrain. The Joint-Venture will develop and acquire a USD 1 bn portfolio of advanced
logistics warehouse space in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

Jeff Schwartz is chairman and chief executive officer of ProLogis.
Atif Abdulmalik is chief executive officer of Arcapita. "
Joseph Ghazal is senior vice president and head of
ProLogis Middle East. "

Companies:
http://www.prologis.com
http://www.arcapita.com

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/0...

The reknown Islamic finance specialist lawyer, Michael McMillen, joins Fulbright & Jaworski as partner to lead its global Islamic finance practice. He used to work previously for Dechert and King & Spalding.

Source: legalweek.com

Northern Trust announced that it has enhanced its investment compliance monitoring capabilities for institutional asset servicing and wealth management clients globally, by expanding the range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors monitored by Northern Trust Compliance Analyst® to help clients meet responsible investing goals.

Compliance Analyst is a customizable, Web-based tool that alerts investors when portfolios are nearing or have breached established limits in a client's investment policy. In addition to corporate governance rankings and the 10 socially responsible investment restrictions currently available on Compliance Analyst, Northern Trust has extended its agreement with RiskMetrics Group to offer additional screening capabilities that cover the following issues:

Prohibited Nations according to US legislation or government, Shari'ah Law, Landmines and Cluster Bombs, Animal Testing/Welfare

For more information, visit http://www.northerntrust.com.

Source: Northern Trust, http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080318/aqtu043.html?.v=54