IslamicFinance.de

The last and final day of JEF 2011 included a prolific discussion on Islamic banking and finance with Sheikh Saleh Kamel, as a keynote speaker. Governor of SAGIA HE Amr Al Dabbagh shed light on what Saudi's Investment plans for the next 5 years.
Sheikh Saleh called for the unification of Fatwa Authorities at banks. He highlighted the importance of a managing entity to ensure that Islamic transactions are viably controlled and stressed need for proper understanding of its true meaning for proper application of Islamic Finance.

A long-touted Islamic megabank has received approval from Bahrain and a preliminary green light from Malaysia to begin operations.
Saudi Arabia's Sheikh Saleh Kamel said the venture is still in discussions with Qatar to obtain a licence.

With an initial public offering of $3bn, the world's biggest Islamic bank is set for official launch before the end of the year by Sheikh Saleh Kamel, chairman of Al Baraka Banking Group.
The mega bank announced last year will have an initial capital of $10bn through a number of initial public offerings and private stock options.

This time last year, after Asharq Al-Awsat Riyadh attended the thirtieth Dallah al-Baraka Seminar on Islamic Finance, he wrote an article suggesting that Sheikh Saleh Kamel should establish an Islamic endowment for this seminar in order to ensure it continues after his passing because this forum no longer belongs just to Dallah al-Baraka or Sheikh Saleh Kamel but rather to the Muslim ummah as a whole. This seminar has become, through its research, decisions and fatwas, the primary reference for the Islamic ummah, with regards to the jurisprudence of Islamic financial transactions which the Muslim ummah suffers a lack of, whether this is with regards to experts in jurisprudence, scholarly references, or research centers. Today, after attending the 31st Dallah al-Baraka seminar where he met with Sheikh Saleh Kamel, he is delighted to inform you that the Sheikh has established an endowment for the seminar from his own financial resources in order to ensure the continuance of the seminar's work and support services.

The chairman of Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al Baraka Banking Group BARKA.BH expects a 7 % rise in profit this year.