IslamicFinance.de

Law.com reported on 3 April that Loyens & Loeff has launched an Islamic finance practice -- in a move thought to make Loyens the first Benelux firm to target the sector with a dedicated team, following the hiring of Marjorie Sinke as head last February. Sinke -- a former judge at The Hague -- joins Loyens after running her own Islamic finance consultancy. She was also previously an associate at Benelux giant Stibbe.

Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1207133080920

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) released on 1 April that the IFSB Council adopted two documents to further facilitate efforts towards enhancing the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry.

In its 12th meeting held at the Islamic Development Bank's (IDB) headquarters in Jeddah on March 26th 2008, the Council of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) resolved to approve two documents that aim to further facilitate efforts towards enhancing the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry. The two documents are:

Guidance Note in Connection with the Capital Adequacy Standard: Recognition of Ratings by External Credit Assessment Institutions (ECAI) on Shari'ah-Compliant Financial Instruments (Guidance Note)

Technical Note on Issues in Strengthening Liquidity Management of Institutions Offering Islamic Financial Services: The Development of Islamic Money Markets (Technical Notes)

Guidance Note in Connection with the Capital Adequacy Standard: Recognition of Ratings by External Credit Assessment Institutions (ECAI) on Shari'ah-Compliant Financial Instruments (Guidance Note)

Andrew England and David Oakley wrote a short briefing on 30 March in the Financial Times about a new Islamic private bank planned in Switzerland. National Bank of Kuwait is supposedly partnering with a Saudi-Arabian institution.

Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9bbfce9e-fe8c-11dc-9e04-000077b07658,Authorised=...

Arthur Macdonald reported in Gulf Daily News that the Sukuk market has suffered from the global financial crisis, but it is likely to recover. It impacted pricing and access to investors. Further the discussion on the Dollar peg of Gulf currencies created addtional uncertainties. Nevertheless the market has grown in ten years from millions to billions, participants of a Sukuk conference in Bahrain said.

Source: http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=211884&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=...

Matthew Martin reported on 18 March that Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) is evaluating opportunities to acquire a conventional Egyptian bank and convert it into an Islamic bank, and is also applying for a banking licence in Turkey.
Qatar Islamic Bank will likely follow its strategy of independent brands, like before in regard to European Finance House in London, Asian Finance House in Malaysia and Arab Finance House in Lebanon.

Source: meed.com

The Guardian reported on 17th March about the takaful business of Prudential. Prudential is looking to expand into Egypt as the executive who runs the insurer's fast-growing Asian business seeks other markets with scope for rapid growth, like before Indonesia, where 25% of all sales in the fourth quarter of 2007 were sharia-compliant products.

Figures on Friday showed that profits of the Pru's Asian operations broke through £1bn for the first time in 2007 and now match the profits achieved by the insurer's traditional UK operations.

Stowe is already responsible for 13 countries. In India, he believes Pru can soon overtake the state-owned insurer that occupies the number-one slot in the country.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/mar/17/islamicfinance.insurance?gus...

Three local banks in the Jutland region of Denmark have agreed to offer mortgage loans that comply with Islamic laws.
The bank owns the property until the terms of the lease, typically a 30-year agreement, are completed. The three banks -- Sparekassen Farsø, Sparekassen Vendsyssel and Sparekassen Hobro -- with cooperation of a fourth -- Den Jyske Sparekasse -- created a company to handle the new Amanah Kredit mortgages. Niels Mogaard, director of Amanah, said the arrangements were already in use, especially in the city of Aalborg, the Copenhagen Post reported.

source: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2008/03/12/danish_banks_to_comply_...

Der Vortrag zeigt vergleichsweise die Grösse und die Spezika des deutschen im Vergleich zum britischen Finanzmarkt für Muslime auf. Desweiteren werden Produktvorschläge, welche die Zielgruppe in Deutschland benötigt und Schlüsselbegriffe des Islamic finance erläutert. Ziel von Islamic finance ist somit die finanzielle Einbindung von Muslimen in Deutschland (financial inclusion).