NIGERIA: National Insurance Commission of Nigeria revokes certificates of registration of Niger Insurance and Standard Alliance Insurance
UAE: Dubai International Financial Centre selects Tarabut Gateway as technical platform partner for Open Finance Lab
UAE: Dubai Financial Services Authority imposes restriction on Trevor Conway “to protect the integrity of Islamic finance” following investigation of misconduct
GLOBAL: Saudi buy-now-pay-later platform Tamara expands into the UAE
GLOBAL: Gulf Islamic Investments acquires majority stake in UK Shariah compliant bridge financier OFFA
MALAYSIA: Bank Negara Malaysia issues policy document on bancaTakaful and bancassurance
MOROCCO: La Marocaine Vie launches Al Maghribia Takaful to offer Takaful products in Morocco
KUWAIT: Warba Bank and Boubyan Bank each submit applications to establish digital bank under Central Bank of Kuwait umbrella
UK: Gatehouse Bank launches savings app to support customers in managing personal savings accounts
MALAYSIA: Joint Committee on Climate Change releases Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures application guide
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi British Bank appoints veteran banker Yasser Ali Al-Barrak as CEO of corporate and institutional banking
PAKISTAN: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan permits licensed investment advisors to offer employer pension funds
OMAN: Sustainable city Yiti signs MoU with Sohar Islamic Bank to offer escrow services to buyers of upcoming residential units
MALAYSIA: Securities Commission Malaysia launches SRI-linked Sukuk framework to facilitate companies’ transition to net zero
MALAYSIA: Malaysia Building Society appoints Nor Azam M Taib as group CEO
MALAYSIA: HSBC Bank Malaysia appoints Karel Avni Doshi as head of commercial banking
SAUDI ARABIA: Stefano Paolo Bertamini resigns as independent board member of Al Rajhi Bank
NIGERIA: President Muhammadu Buhari reappoints Patience Oniha as director-general of Debt Management Office
MALAYSIA: Bank Negara Malaysia issues four short-term Shariah papers
MALAYSIA: Cagamas prices ASEAN Sustainability SRI Sukuk paper at RM150 million (US$34.02 million)
QATAR: Ali Bin Ghanim Group resigns from membership on Qatar Islamic Bank’s board of directors
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Real Estate Company completes early repayment of SAR535.32 million (US$142.55 million) to Riyad Bank
PAKISTAN: Finance minister instructs National Bank of Pakistan to withdraw Supreme Court appeal on Federal Shariat Court’s Riba verdict
PAKISTAN: Popular Islamic Modaraba appoints Kamran Hussain Mughal as new chief executive
UAE: Dubai Islamic Bank becomes first Islamic bank to go live with Arab Monetary Fund’s Buna cross-border payment system
UAE: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank launches plot financing facility enabling customers to purchase land for investment or homeownership purposes
GAMBIA: Central Bank of Gambia concludes auction featuring three Sukuk Salam papers
MALAYSIA: Sunway Treasury Sukuk places four unrated Islamic medium-term notes
SAUDI ARABIA: Al Etihad Cooperative Insurance Company receives Shariah compliance certification for activities in 2021
BANGLADESH: Dhaka Bank reelects Abdul Hai Sarker as board chairman
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Investment Bank completes Tier 1 Sukuk issuance worth SAR2 billion (US$532.59 million) through private placement
MALAYSIA: Bank Negara Malaysia issues four Shariah papers
MALAYSIA: Tenaga Nasional places five Islamic medium-term notes
MALAYSIA: PONSB Capital auctions two Islamic medium-term notes totaling RM700 million (US$159 million)
MALAYSIA: Danum Capital prints two Istithmar- and Wakalah-based Islamic medium-term notes
SAUDI ARABIA: Buruj Cooperative Insurance Co secures final regulatory approval for new product
SAUDI ARABIA: Amana Cooperative Insurance Company completes rump offering
IRAQ: Fitch assigns ‘CCC+’ long-term issuer default rating to Kurdistan International Islamic Bank
GLOBAL: Moody’s affirms Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector at ‘A2’
BAHRAIN: Bahraini Islamic retail and wholesale banks maintain high capital adequacy ratio in first quarter of 2022
GLOBAL: UK Export Finance offers Sukuk assistance following maiden GBP66 million (US$81.04 million) financing deal in Jordan
UK: Gatehouse Bank raises rate on new Easy Access savings account
PAKISTAN: Habib Bank launches digital Islamic banking account app
PAKISTAN: Bank of Khyber expands Islamic banking network with new branch at Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital
GLOBAL: AAOIFI signs multiple strategic partnerships on the sidelines of its 20th Shariah Boards Conference
BANGLADESH: Southeast Bank launches five agent banking outlets targeting unbanked population
BANGLADESH: Strategic Finance & Investments secures regulatory approval to launch Islamic window
UK: Wahed Invest expands investment range with physical gold portfolio
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission approves prospectus of EDGE AMC’s new Islamic fund
MALAYSIA: Pertama Digital looks to partner with Islamic bank to establish Malaysia’s government-focused neobank
Banks and financial institutions in Afghanistan are moving toward fully Islamic conversion following an instruction from the central bank to do so “as soon as possible”. Similarly, in Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court issued an order for the financial system...
The Saudi Exchange has launched yet another series of sophisticated investment instruments for both domestic and international investors, boosting its derivatives offering further with a line of single stock futures. But their compliance is in...
In this issue, we take a closer look at the Saudi Exchange’s new range of investment instruments and explore how these innovative tools would factor into the Kingdom’s growth plans. Other topics covered by our...
Indonesian consumer finance company Mandala Multifinance (MFIN) has signed a Shariah compliant line of financing agreement for an amount of US$30 million with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) to...
Pakistan has received approval from the federal cabinet to issue Sukuk while regular issuers sustained momentum. JEVITHA MUTHUSAMY rounds up Shariah sovereign securities developments over the week. Indonesia...
Sudan last year officially opened up to allow non-Islamic banking and finance in the country in an attempt to attract more investors to aid its economic recovery. Prior to this, it had long been known...
The healthcare sector has been a reliable safe haven during even the most challenging markets. According to investment manager BlackRock, the sector recorded positive growth in 2021. JEVITHA MUTHUSAMY takes a look at the developments...
Banks and financial institutions in Afghanistan are moving toward fully Islamic conversion following an instruction from the central bank to do so “as soon as possible”. Similarly, in Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court issued an...
The Islamic Finance news Awards honor the best in the Islamic financial industry and are one of the most prestigious awards highly recognized by the global Islamic capital markets. These awards continue to be an apt representation of the current Islamic financial market landscape.
UAE: Dubai has launched the UAE's first-ever Waqf dedicated to supporting women and children through a collaboration between the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation and the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children. The residential Waqf...
Pakistan has received approval from the federal cabinet to issue Sukuk while regular issuers sustained momentum. JEVITHA MUTHUSAMY rounds up Shariah sovereign securities developments over the week. Indonesia The Indonesian government was due to conduct...
Affin Hwang Asset Management, which manages over RM79 billion (US$17.94 billion) in assets as at the 30th April 2021, has expanded its suite of thematic offerings with the launch of a new Shariah compliant fund....
The Islamic banking sector of Bangladesh has shown strong growth, with the market share of Islamic banks standing at 28.21% in terms of deposits and 27.78% in terms of investments as at the end of...
Fintech start-ups in Iran have received a boost of support with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI)’s recent launch of its regulatory sandbox — a major part of the regulator’s plans to reform the country’s...
Three main themes emerged this past week in the world of Islamic finance: fintech, ESG and enabling policies. Several landmark deals involving Islamic fintech start-ups took place including China’s Gobi Ventures and Ethis Group setting...
Islamic banking institutions in Pakistan are playing a stronger role in the intermediation process, according to the central bank, as newly released data for the 2021 current year (CY21) shows significant leap in Shariah financing...
The global Islamic finance industry could see new standards relating to Islamic syndication and liquidity management, among other industry development initiatives discussed during the recently held 46th meeting of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM)....
Regular issuers from Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and Bahrain have kept up momentum. JEVITHA MUTHUSAMY rounds up Shariah sovereign securities developments over the week. Indonesia The Indonesian government raised IDR5.1 trillion (US$345.78 million) from a Sukuk...
Australia-based asset manager Hejaz Asset Management has unveiled a Shariah compliant property fund called the Hejaz Property Fund, catered to Australian investors seeking long-term capital growth. JEVITHA MUTHUSAMY has more. Launched on the 24th December...
Over the last decade, private markets grew five-fold with assets reaching US$10 trillion in 2021 (Source: Preqin). Private markets growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future supported by a rise in ethical and...
Like most sectors of the economy in the Muslim world, Takaful is also affected by the imperative of a digital transition. The actuary's profession, protean in its essence and made up of figures, complex models,...
The global Islamic finance industry started blooming in the early 2010s; this trend consisted of the establishment of the varying Islamic financial industries including Islamic banking, Islamic capital market and Islamic non-bank financial services. Some...
According to the US Central Intelligence Agency’s The World Factbook, Thailand has the 20th-largest population in the world with 69.65 million people. Muslims represent 4.3% of the grand total, or 2.99 million people — almost...
Islamic family offices strike a careful balance between continued providence of funds and investing in industries and sectors more cutting-edge and dynamic than traditional practice. Half a year after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic...
The question I placed at the end of the last article may not have been in good taste to readers. Nevertheless, if you look at it from the angle of where our globe currently stands due to the havoc created by mankind to the environment, you might agree with me that there is a dire need to act urgently, as if our own house is on fire. In a UN Development Programme conference a few years ago, I quoted three divine revelations as to how human beings tend to misuse the environment as a habit. I provide them below in...
The Egyptian Sukuk market continues to experience alternating periods of regression and optimism in light of the economic difficulties the country is facing in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Despite previous announcements that Egypt’s first sovereign Sukuk issuance would occur this summer, the Ministry...
The UK market for Islamic finance is an interesting study of what is both good and bad about the current state of Islamic finance. With some activity at the top and lots of enthusiasm at the bottom, why is there such a gaping hole in the middle? At the top, of course, are the two...
The Participating Banking Working Group of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has held its first meeting at the end of June 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic era. One of the key questions on the agenda was the adjustment of the current Russian legislation to promote the development of the Islamic finance model. The...
The Western Balkans — especially Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia — are home to Europe’s largest Muslim community. A combined population of some 10 million people are increasingly looking for Shariah compliant finance to drive much-needed economic growth and well-being, 30 years after the end of the communist command economy. The smallest Western Balkan...
After a brilliant success recorded by its various Sukuk, on the 26th April 2022, the Republic of Senegal issued a record Sukuk facility of XOF330 billion (US$530.09 million) called ‘Sukuk Ijara Sogepa Sn’. With the Management and Exploitation Company of State Built Heritage (SOGEPA) as a financial vehicle, Senegal carried out the largest Sukuk issuance...
In Islamic finance, commodities have always held intrinsic value. They include precious metals, such as gold and silver, as well as consumable food items, such as wheat, barley and dates. In addition to being mentioned...
Islamic banking — already a US$2.2 trillion global sector — is on the rise with a projected growth of 10–12% this year alone. In Qatar, following Masraf Al Rayan’s recent merger with Al Khaliji Commercial...
The paradigm of modern economic thought is such that it separates the ‘economic’ from social life and prevents any integrative holistic approach. It starts from the assumption that the motivations of ‘players’ in the economy,...
An intermediary between a seller and a buyer or between a producer and a consumer of legitimate goods and services is not prohibited in Islamic law and Shariah. This can be extended to all businesses...
LOLC Al-Falaah, Sri Lanka’s alternate financial services brand, celebrated its 15th anniversary in April 2022. This milestone marks a period during which LOLC Al-Falaah revolutionized Sri Lanka’s non-interest-based financial services as the trendsetter of the...
The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) launched the QFC Sustainable Sukuk and Bonds Framework in March 2022. The framework is part of the financial center’s efforts to develop Qatar’s debt capital market, which seeks to emulate the success of the Malaysian capital market. We speak to Aymane Doukali, the head of Islamic and structured finance at QFC, about how the framework will impact sustainable issuances in the region.
