IslamicFinance.de

A subsidiary of Saad Group, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate, has said it is unable to meet repayments on a sukuk (Islamic bonds) issue worth $650 million, which matures in 2012.

A UN Food Agency is co-operating with Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to help advance agriculture in poor countries.

Salaam Halal insurance, part of Principle Insurance Holdings and the first independent takaful provider in the UK, has stopped accepting new business, following a failed rights issue. It is now in a ‘solvent run-off’ situation, whereby its existing polices (there are about 10,000 policyholders) will operate until expiry, when they cannot be renewed

The Muslim Community Co-operative (Australia) (MCCA) has recently received an Australian financial services licence from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). It is necessary for the MCCA to set up its Managed Investment Scheme, the ‘MCCA Islamic Finance Investment Fund’, by which the MCCA plans to launch its Shari’ah-compliant home finance products.

The MCCA has until now been a mutually-owned co-operative. The plan for the next three years is to wind down the co-operative outfit and sell its assets to the new fund. And the intended launch date will either be 1st May or 1st July 2009.

Chaaban Omran is the managing director of the MCCA

The country’s parliament has approved legislation enabling all commercial banks in Kyrgyzstan to operate according to Shari’ah principles. National Bank of Kyrgyzstan will be responsible for issuing licences to Shari’ah-compliant financial institutions, as well as supervising and regulating their activity.

New Horizon reported that other IT vendors now think about certification by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation of Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and following the example of Path Solutions.