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The spread of Islamic trade finance is boosting demand for Shariah-compliant reinsurance in the Gulf, trade credit insurer Euler Hermes says, predicting the sector could eventually account for over a third of its business in the region. Euler Hermes, part of Germany’s Allianz insurance group, is involved in the business because it is one of the region’s biggest trade credit insurers. The company launched a Shariah-compliant trade credit insurance product in 2008 and the business began growing substantially three years ago, now accounting for about 10% of Euler Hermes’ total GCC business. Euler Hermes’ GCC operations had total turnover exceeding $40mn last year, and exposure to its clients of more than $12bn.

MAA Group Bhd is caught between Bursa Malaysia’s PN17 rules (practice note) – which requires it to buy another business to lift the status – and the Islamic Services Act 2013, which only allows it to buy a financial services company. MAA has been granted an extension of time of up to July 31, 2014 to submit a regularisation plan to the regulator. The firm is now looking at the takaful market of the Philippines to strengthen its insurance business, and possibly pave the way towards exiting its PN17 status. Chief executive officer Muhamad Umar Swift said that MAA seeks a lifting of the PN17 status by virtue of having a takaful business instead of acquiring another business. He said the group has allocated RM177 million for capitalisation and expansion plans for this year, particularly in the takaful business.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Islamic Development Bank's (IDB) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'AAA' with a Stable Outlook and its Short-term IDR at 'F1+'. The affirmation and Stable Outlook reflect the following key rating factors: IDB is one of the strongest-capitalised multilateral development banks rated by Fitch, with an equity-to-assets ratio of 54% and a debt-to-equity ratio of 79.5% at end-1434H (3 November 2013). Credit risk remains moderate, other risks are manageable. Profits are moderate compared with commercial banks, but are steady and in line with peers, ensuring regular equity strengthening. Shareholder support, a secondary rating driver, remains strong.

Thomson Reuters, in partnership with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, has launched the second annual Ethical Finance Innovation Challenge & Awards (EFICA) for 2014. The global awards are designed to recognize and reward innovation in ethical and Islamic finance. Applications are open for the following categories: 1) Islamic Finance Industry Development Award offers a prize of $100,000, 2) Ethical Finance Initiative Award offers a prize of $50,000, and 3) Lifetime Achievement Award offers a prize of $25,000. Submissions for these three awards will be open until 5 August, 2014. To learn more about the awards, guidelines for entry, executive board members and to download application forms, please visithttp://updates.thomsonreuters.com/events/efica/.

Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has rejected an appeal by Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House (GFH) against the regulator's decision to monitor its Kuwait-listed shares. The CMA decided to monitor the stock after it was traded in high volumes ahead of a company disclosure last year. GFH, which said the events were unrelated, appealed last month. However, the CMA commissioner board has maintained its previous decision in this respect after reviewing the details of the subject. In recent months, Kuwait's regulator has been clamping down on what it sees as unusual market activity.

Asset management firm Arabesque has received regulatory approval to start operations with its value-based investment strategies - the latest addition to Britain's Islamic finance sector. The London-headquartered firm now has in place a team of 18 staff, with additional offices in Frankfurt and New York, chief executive Omar Selim said. Moreover, Arabesque is backed by an advisory board of ethical industry professionals. The firm is backed by capital from its own management and has commitments from several institutional investors. Arabesque plans to establish funds in Luxembourg and will offer managed accounts as well.

According to a recent IFC study on Islamic banking opportunities across small and medium enterprises in Mena, there is potential gap of up to $13.2 billion for Islamic SME financing across nine countries in the region. The study, carried out in Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan, shows that approximately 35 per cent of SMEs are excluded from the formal banking sector because of the lack of Islamic products, despite huge demand. A high level of risk aversion by banks, poor regulatory environments, differing perceptions of Islamic finance, and a lack of relevant products have been identified as lack of bank funding to SME sector in the region.

The European Union's second highest court has annulled an EU asset freeze on Syria International Islamic Bank, dealing another blow to EU sanctions following legal victories last year by several Iranian companies. The EU imposed sanctions on SIIB in 2012, alleging that it had acted on behalf of two other banks, Commercial Bank of Syria (CBS) and Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank (SLCB), that were both under EU sanctions. But the court said the bloc's governments had failed to provide evidence. The bank has also been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. The ruling is subject to appeal.

Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House has become entangled in a dispute with a former executive at its Dubai-based private equity unit who the company alleges falsified invoices to siphon almost $5 million into bank accounts controlled by him. David Haigh, who was the deputy chief executive of GFH Capital until resigning this March, was arrested shortly after he arrived in Dubai about a month ago and has been in detention since. Legal authorities in Dubai are weighing criminal charges, according to an emailed statement from GFH, while the company has also filed a civil suit against him in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Mr. Haigh denied the GFH allegations.

The Islamic Development Bank has launched a programme to release $180 million in financing to six African countries for renewable energy projects. The new initiative, called Renewable Energy for Poverty Reduction, will target projects over the next three years to improve access to electricity in Africa's rural areas. Around $125 million have been committed by the bank and initial talks with potential partners such as the OPEC Fund for International Development have started to secure the rest. The initiative will focus on West Africa and projects in Burkina Faso have already been approved. Projects such as mini-grids and rooftop solar systems for Mali, Senegal, Niger and Nigeria are likely to follow and a sixth African country not yet determined.

AHAB outlines a comprehensive settlement proposal to a group of banks and financial institutions with claims against the company. These asserted by banks, total billions of dollars, arise out of liabilities incurred through a massive fraud perpetrated by Maan Al Sanea in his time a head of the Money Exchange division of AHAB. The liabilities have so far spawned more than 70 lawsuits in at least 10 countries over the past five years.

An Iranian trial and execution raised questions about corruption at high levels in various countries. Reports said that Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, a billionaire businessman was executed in a prison, North of Tehran for being involved in a $2.6 billion state bank scam, the largest fraud case since 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. The public in America, Britain and other European countries reacted with surprisingly many comments on social media platform. They wish such a harsh punishment for their nations in order to deal with corruption amongst politician and businessmen.

The Islamic Development Bank has launched a programme to loan $180 million to six African countries for the purpose of renewable energy projects. Islamic finance is growing in Africa and mainly used by governments that want to develop infrastructure projects on a large scale. Saudi Arabia-based IDB promotes economic development in 56 countries through Shariah-compliant loans and grants. Just about half of the bank's member countries are in Africa. The continent is home to hundreds of millions of Muslims.

The Islamic Development Bank has launched a programme to loan $180 million to six African countries for the purpose of renewable energy projects. Islamic finance is growing in Africa and mainly used by governments that want to develop infrastructure projects on a large scale. Saudi Arabia-based IDB promotes economic development in 56 countries through Shariah-compliant loans and grants. Just about half of the bank's member countries are in Africa. The continent is home to hundreds of millions of Muslims.

Such is the hype of activity about Shari’a-compliant product at the moment that even The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has now moved a step closer towards the issuance of a debut sukuk. The government presented a draft bill to parliament that could get deal going, proposing the issuance of a €200m-equivalent sovereign sukuk denominated. Euros or US-Dollars, both are welcome. Additionally, the Luxembourg government has also identified three real estate assets to underpin the transaction.

Shari’a-compliant launches from UK based managers are growing steadily. The UK is at the forefront of Muslim investment. Even crowdfunding is becoming increasingly acceptable in the Arab world to raise capital for start-ups. But investments of any nature have to be Shari’a-compliant. Hereby Muslim communities from Bangladesh or Indonesia may differ from Arabs or Iranians. Some national governments, like Pakistan, insist on full Shari’a financing whereas others like Dubai or Bahrain have a less stringent approach to this. A lot of Shari’a money is completely untapped and is waiting on bank accounts. Most conventional products are not able to access this money due to non-Shari’a compliance.

The Halal-industry Expo will be the largest in Russia and Eastern Europe and will take place from 5 – 8 June, 2014. The Russian Muftis Council is organizer of the exhibition. The Expo will probably bring more than 200 companies together from all over the world. With Muslim numbers increasing there is a definite growing demand for Halal products and services. These are not only popular among Muslims. Halal products are well known for their quality. Besides that, sphere of Halal services bases on a mutual respect and honest cooperation. The Moscow International Halal Exhibition is a major event in the industry and a platform for experts and businesses.

The European Union on Thursday lifted sanctions on the Syria International Islamic Bank and businessman Sulieman Maarouf with ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who lives in London. The moves came as part of a decision to extend the Syria sanctions on nearly all targets for another year, until June 1, 2015. A European diplomat said the decision to lift sanctions against the bank was taken because of a lack of strong evidence linking it to Mr. al-Assad's regime. The Syrian International Islamic bank was placed on the list because the EU alleged it facilitated transactions for the Commercial Bank of Syria and the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank. The list now includes 179 people and 53 entities that the EU says are "linked" to violent repression by Mr. al-Assad's regime.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is organising a Seminar on Islamic Finance in Kazakhstan with the theme, "Prospects and Challenges in the Development of Islamic Finance for Kazakhstan" on 16 June 2014 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The National Bank of Kazakhstan will host the Seminar on Islamic finance as well as the IFSB Facilitating the Implementation of Standards (FIS) Workshop Series for Banking and Takaful on 17 - 19 June 2014. The one-day Seminar will cover the following topics: Islamic Finance for Central Asia: Growth with Stability - Regulatory Issues and Key Preconditions; The Role of Sukuk: Infrastructure Financing, Capital Market Instruments and High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA); Panel Discussion on the Way forward for the Development of Islamic Finance for Kazakhstan.

Dubai-based Emaar Properties has reportedly secured a $1.5 billion sharia-compliant loan from five local lenders. Emaar, developer of the world's tallest building, has raised the seven-year facility which will pay 175 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor). This is half the rate of the existing loan, which was due to run until 2016 and had an interest rate of 350 bps over Libor. The funds have been provided on an equal basis by three Dubai lenders - Dubai Islamic Bank, Mashreq andNoor Bank - and two from Abu Dhabi - First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi. The lenders plan to market the transaction to other banks in a syndication phase, which could begin in the next two weeks.