IslamicFinance.de

Indonesia is seen as a natural fit with Islamic banking, finance and insurance. Indonesian Vice President Boediono states that the mobilization of domestic savings through Islamic banking is expected to help drive the growth of the Indonesian banking industry.
Gov. Darmin Nasution of the Bank of Indonesia predicted Islamic banking deposits in Indonesia to grow steadily over the next few years.

Oman's central bank has given Al Izz International Bank a license to operate as a fully-fledged Islamic bank. The Sultanate is trying to open doors to Islamic finance through this measure.

It seems that International Bank of Qatar has sold off its Islamic unit to Barwa Bank.
There are no reports about what the other conventional banks, mainly giants like the Qatar National Bank (QNB), are doing with their Islamic operations.
Someone familiar with the mather said, however, that acquisitions of Islamic units of commercial banks are expected to follow Al Yusr's buyout by Barwa Bank.

Indonesia is expected to to have a natural fit with Islamic banking, finance and insurance, especially because of the mobilization of domestic savings through Islamic banking.
But it seems that the latest statistics on the sector demonstrate that Indonesia has a long way to go in emulating the success of its neighbor, Malaysia.
For Indonesia, the global sukuk market in particular evolved into an alternative source of funding for infrastructure and other investments. The latest incursion of the Indonesian Ministry of Finance into the Islamic capital market is planned for August 2011 when the government is due to launch 1 trillion rupiah of debut Islamic treasury bills with a six-month tenor.

Hamood bin Sangour al Zadjali, Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), stated that a team of experts is analyzing the legislative requirements to bring forward integrated legislation for Islamic banking and make necessary adjustments to the provisions of the current banking law.
He added the fact that the introduction of Islamic banks in the country has become a reality since the issuance of approval by His Majesty for the practice of Islamic banking in the Sultanate to the CBO.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) and Al Salam Bank have appointed KPMG Fakhro for their planned mega merger.
The proposed merger between the two is considered a litmus test for the Gulf region after the last attempted merger, between two Qatari banks, failed.
If this will result in a success, it would be the first for two Gulf-based Islamic banks.

Dr Shariq Nisar is the architect of India’s Shariah Index teaches Islamic Banking and Finance at Aligarh Muslim University, BS Abdur Rahman University, Chennai, Al-Jamia Al Islamiya, Kerala and at many other institutes and Madarsas in the country.
Regarding the recent fall in the stock market and its correlation with Islamic indices the world, he states that their performance during financial crises is generally better due to the fact that scrips connected to interest-based activities are excluded from Islamic indices.
His oppinion about the future of the crisis is that a new set of countries may emerge which will replace the old developed world as the economic powerhouses of the world.

The Islamic banks in Bangladesh are lookinf for a Shariah-compliant money market and separate laws to govern the fast extending Islamic banking in the Muslim-majority country.
Mohammad Abdul Mannan, Managing Director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL), stated that at this point around 20% business of the banking industry of the country is being handled by shariah-based banks and the scope is widening at a faster pace.

BankMuscat equips to activate Islamic finance products.
K. Gopakumar, General Manager, Wholesale Banking, states that they already have the necessary in-house to revive Shari’ah-compliant products.
The bank recently attended a series of customised Islamic banking courses for some 250 staff, presented by US consultancy Shape Financial Corp.

Moody's Investors Service discovered various characteristics found in strategies adopted by Islamic banks which improve their financial strength ratings in a new report. This strategies contain: franchise value, risk positioning and financial fundamentals.
Christine Kuo, a Moody's viche president/senior analyst and author of the report, states that despite the fact that Islamic banks in different countries operate under different environments, are at different stages of development and therefore require different strategies, they still have some common strategy characteristics.

Meezan Bank is the first Advisor and Lead Arranger for the first ever short-term Sukuk for Kot Addu Power Company Limited (KAPCO), bringing another "first" to Pakistan’s Islamic Banking Industry.
The introduction of short-term Sukuk by Meezan Bank imprints the opening of another much needed avenue for Islamic Mutual Funds which faces a scarcity of short-term tradable instruments. The Sukuk collected an overwhelming response from investors, mainly consisting of Islamic mutual funds.

Bahrain Islamic Bank and Al Salam Bank are thinking about teaming up to create the Gulf Arab state’s largest Islamic lender. The both are known to be in merger talks to create the third largest bank in Bahrain, with assets of BHD 1.7 billion ($4.5 billion).
The statement added that the two boards of directors stated that consolidation is the way forward for local banks in general and Islamic banks in particular in the aftermath of financial crisis and economic downturn and greater competitive banking environment in the region.

Suresh R I Perera, Principal – Tax and Regulatory, KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Co stated that there were many milestones achieved towards Islamic Banking in Sri Lanka. The statement was given at 3rd Sri Lanka Islamic Banking and Finance Conference which was held in Colombo.
Faizel Salieh, Managing Director/CEO , Amana Bank Ltd , added that if they are to build the right attitude of Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) in Sri Lanka there should be right behaviour in the whole financial market and the quality dimension over the quantity dimension and a high level of conviction is also important.

BankMuscat lead a series of customised Islamic banking courses. The learning and development solutions for staff is as part of the bank’s commitment to launch Islamic banking products and services in accordance with the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.
The bank produced the courses so that they provide general awareness modules that imparted broad-based knowledge and skills of the Islamic finance principles, which are derived from the Holy Quran.

Dawood Islamic Bank has a new name since 11 July 2011: Burj Bank. With the new image, the bank is trying to leave behind all the turbulents.
The banks new purpose is to be among the top 10 banks in Pakistan within a decade. The bank is planning to launch Shari’ah-compliant consumer products.

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) finished the GCC's first ever Islamic equivalent of the conventional Repo product, a collateralized Murabaha transaction, opening the gateway to an alternative method of liquidity management in the Islamic banking sector.
NBAD and ADIB jointly starting on this initiative to formalise the Master Collateralised Murabaha Agreement (MCMA), therefor enabling Islamic banks to utilise their holdings of sukuk.

Capital Intelligence (CI) announced Bahrain-based AlBaraka Islamic Bank (AIB)'s Long and Short-Term Foreign Currency ratings at BB+ and A3 respectively. These ratings integrate a one-notch uplift on the basis of AlBaraka Banking Group (ABG) ownership, the parent, the support level being affirmed at 2.
Although it's a small bank, AIB now requests a significant market share of Islamic banking assets in Pakistan through its recent acquisition in that country.
AIB's strenghts are liquidity and capital adequacy.

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank executed the Gulf region's first Shari'ah-compliant repo transaction, in a move that will help absorb liquidity. The statement came from the two banks.

G Capital in partnership with Gürmen Group, has taken into posession Adabank in Turkey for US$ 75 million.
GFH, the parent company of G Capital, has already had a key role in establishing following institutions: Arab Finance House (Lebanon 2003), Solidarity (Bahrain - 2004), First Leasing Bank (Bahrain - 2004), Khaleeji Commercial Bank (Bahrain - 2005), Asian Finance Bank (Malaysia - 2006), Qinvest (Qatar - 2006) and First Energy Bank (Bahrain -2008).

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (“ADCB”) presented the new look of its comprehensive Islamic Banking solution to clients across the UAE.
The Islamic Banking service offers increased product lines from liabilities and assets to credit cards and investments to furnish a Shari’ah compliant product for a host of conventional ADCB product and service on offer.