IslamicFinance.de

AirAsia X Sdn Bhd will put off a US$200 million Islamic bond issue planned for March by at least 12 months after the airline abandoned routes from Kuala Lumpur to London, Paris, Mumbai and New Delhi.
AirAsia X announced Jan. 12 that it was cutting its flights to Europe, justifying the cost of complying with the European Union’s emissions trading system and rising taxes.

Educational courses on Islamic economy are going to be eld by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in Paris, France. The participants will become familiar with Islamic Shari’a in economic fields.

Companies within the industry are continuing to debate the standards that need to be met to be considered a "Sharia-compliant" hotel.
One such company is Shaza Hotels. The luxury operator, which is a joint venture between Kempinski Hotels and Guidance Hotel Investment Company, based in Paris, is aiming to open hotels that are alcohol-free and "display the values and cultures of the Middle East and North Africa".
Shaza announced plans to manage a luxury hotel in Karbala, Iraq, which is being developed by Range Hospitality, based in Dubai.

Kerala offers huge potential for setting up financial institutions based on Islamic tenets, given its strong historical ties with West Asia and a large Muslim population that adheres to investment norms prescribed by Sharia. Islam prohibits giving or receiving of interest, which it categorises as usury. It does not prohibit trading and investment but advises followers to share risks. It tells the investor to share the loss, just as he would have shared the profit, in case the investment makes a loss. The West has successfully repackaged this investment process as Islamic banking. Kerala is trying to follow that path.

Allen & Overy (A&O) has bolstered its Paris arm with the hire of a tax team from CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre.
Jean-Yves Charriau joined A&O as a partner last week (1 October) from Bureau Francis Lefebvre, where he was also a partner, with a team including counsel Sophie Maurel and associate David Sorel.
Charriau, who specialises in advising real estate companies and foreign funds on their real estate investment transactions, becomes the third partner in the firm's Paris tax practice. He was previously at Bureau Francis Lefebvre for seven years prior to which he spent a decade at Ernst & Young.