IslamicFinance.de

The German regulator BAFIN is organising an Islamic finance conference on 29 October 2009. The announcement is in German, but the conference is held in English. The conference shall show different aspects of Islamic finance, and to determine the salient features. Further it shall discuss the developments in the insurance sector and capital markets. The aim of the conference is to sharpen the conscience about Islamic finance und its increasing role, the foundations of sharia compliant business, and the challenges involved herewith from the regulatory perspective.

Contact details:
Ricarda.Maier@bafin.de
jochenrobert.elsen@bafin.de

The Ninth Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance is scheduled to be held at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 27-28 March, 2010.

The theme of the conference will be “Building Bridges across Financial Communities.” Papers are requested in the four following areas:

* FAITH AND FINANCE;

* SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY;

* ISLAMIC FINANCE AFTER THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS;

* CURRENT ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Candidates are requested to e-mail by 1 September 2009, in a Word document, the following to ifp@law.harvard.edu: 150-word abstract of the proposed paper, Biographical sketch up to 200 words, Single-page list of presenter’s relevant publications.

Mushtak Parker covered the controversy regarding the decision to abolish Organised Tawarruq of the International Council of Fiqh Academy (ICFA) in Arab News.

Badlishah Abdul Ghani, CEO of CIMB Islamic Bank seeks further clarification whether the decision covers only the so-called organized Tawarruq and reverse Tawarruq on the one hand or the classical commodity Murabaha contract likewise. In the classical Tawarruq, the third party has to be identified and cannot have any link with the financier or bank. In a commodity Murabaha this is not necessarily the case.

Tawarruq has been practiced in most countries except perhaps in Qatar where the Shariah scholars have discouraged its use per se. More and more Islamic banks in countries including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Kuwait and UAE, are now shunning Tawarruq, even the accepted form.

Sharia scholar Mohammad Akram Laldin rules organised tawarruq as not violating Islamic law principles.

Newly confirmed Central Bank Governor is Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

Sanusi, 47, got his BSc degree in economics from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in 1981 and Masters Degree also in economics from the same institution in 1983.

He later read Sharia and Islamic Studies at the International University of Africa in Khartoum in 1991 and began his working career at ABU from 1983 to 1985 as a graduate assistant.

His banking career started when he joined Icon Ltd (Merchant Bankers) and later worked with UBA where he rose to the rank of general manager in 2005.

“What we need to do is open the interbank market, to improve the bank open position limits, to go back to wholesale debt auction, and to reverse the emergency measures that were taken, which were temporary, as quickly as possible,” Sanusi is quoted by the newspaper.

The Global Association of Risk Professionals and the Banque du Liban recently announced the development of a new program, the Certificate in Risk Management for Islamic Financial Institutions.

The explosive growth in, and increasing sophistication of Islamic financial products has created the need for standards and guidelines for sound risk management approaches analyzing these financial instruments.

The Certificate is expected to be available in 3Q 2009

The Islamic Development Bank and the Syrian government signed an agreement last week stating that the bank would provide a EUR 100 mn finance for the expansion of a power station in Syria.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) granted a USD 31 mn facility to Turkmenistan to finance the purchase of two "river-sea" vessels with the capacity of 7 tons each for transportation of oil and oil products.

Saudi Arabia plans to set up a Fannie Mae-style company in conjunction with the upcoming mortgage law to buy mortgages from financial institutions and help develop national sukuk and debt markets, Saudi Arabia's finance minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said according to Reuters.

7Days Dubai reports that one bank faces 2,500 customers leaving per month withou payng off their credit card bills.

Istanbul Declaration Adopted By The First Meeting Of The Development And Cooperation Institutions Of The Member States Of The Organisation Of The Islamic Conference (May 13-14, 2009) Istanbul, Republic Of Turkey

Date: 16/05/2009 - View in: Arabic | French - Print

We, the Heads/Representatives of the Development and Cooperation Institutions (DCIs) of the Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Heads of Delegations participating in the First Meeting of the Development and Cooperation Institutions of the OIC Member States held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey on 13-14 May 2009,

Inspired by the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action, adopted by the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah in December 2005,

Commending the OIC General Secretariat, the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) for their initiative of convening the First Meeting of the Development and Cooperation Institutions of the OIC Member States,

Economists said two sectors which Singapore should focus on as it gears up for a global economic recovery are Islamic Finance and the green sector.

They said the country should also look to regions like the Middle East and Africa for new opportunities.

The Bank of Mauritius intends to develop a structure that will deal with commodity markets.The Bank is confident that this new form of banking will help to strengthen the country’s financial sector by tapping into the Gulf financial markets, said BOM Governor, Rundheersing Bheenick. Our aim is to become a full fledged member of the Islamic Financial Services Board and be in a position to tap into the immense financial potential it offers.

A multidisciplinary study group composed of lawyers, tax experts, businessmen, scientists and clerics have decided to build a national and regional promotion body for Islamic finance in Senegal.

Mr Karim Ahmed Al CISSE, President of the 'Comité national Charia Finance Sénégal' has announced this to have officially received the recognition of this body by the Senegal Ministry of the Interior of Senegal. Mr. Karim Ahmed CISSE, sees the committee's mission asessential to participate in the emergence of a legal and fiscal environment conducive to the development of Islamic finance. It is also a part of capacity building for clerics to allow them to play their role in the Shariah Board.

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has set up a five-person working group chaired by its director for strategic development, Dr Michael Xuereb, to identify further necessary legal and regulatory changes and related implementation procedures with respect to Sharia Institutions and Sharia Funds.

Microcapital sumarized the World Bank report written by Tatiana Nenova, Cecile Thioro Niang and Anjum Ahmad , released May 2009, 187 pages, available at: http://go.worldbank.org/0KKMYAT130 :

This World Bank report measures and describes the current state of formal and informal financial services in Pakistan for underserved populations and enterprises. Currently 14 percent of Pakistanis use savings, credit, insurance, payments and remittance services from the formal financial system. This is compared to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where 48 percent, 32 percent and 59 percent respectively have access to formal financial services. In addition about 36 percent of Pakistanis use moneylenders, committees, family and friends. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which regulates the banking sector, has grown over the past few years yet it has not met demand. Further details about the market and players in Pakistan are found in Chapter 1.

MICROCAPITAL STORY: African Development Bank Group, Agence Française de Développement Group, European Investment Bank, Development Bank of Southern Africa, KfW Bankengruppe, Islamic Development Bank Group, and World Bank Group Launch USD 15bn Joint Action Plan for Africa Including Support for Microfinance Programs.

The Islamic Development Bank Group, through the Islamic Corporation for the Development of Private Sector, will contribute up to USD 250 million over the next five years, including USD 50 million for the development of Islamic banking industry and USD 50 million for SME development.

Nasser Al Sheikh, Dubai said that it received interest from sovereign wealth funds for the second tranche of the USD 20 bn bond, which will only be issued if needed.

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority and Paris EUROPLACE signed a Memorandum of Understanding defining the range of cooperation.

Mrs Christine LAGARDE, Minister of economy, industry and employment sees the MoU to improve the relations between the countries, and to increase the attractivity of the financial market place of Paris on the long term including the Islamic finance players.

Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI)Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mahmoud Bahmani has promised to supply the initial capital for the establishment of Cooperatives Development Bank. Managing Director of Cooperatives Fund Mashallah Azimi told Mehr News Agency that the proposed bank would start operation this year.