Showing posts with label Islamic finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islamic finance. Show all posts
November 17, 2019
Roundtable: How Islamic Is Islamic Finance?
March 27, 2019
The Islamic Finance Show – 'Riba'
The Islamic Finance Show – 'What Is Islamic Finance?'
October 29, 2013
Islamic Investment: David Cameron Moves to Make London a Mecca for Middle East Wealth
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| The Shard, the tallest building in Europe |
The Prime Minister will signal his determination to tap into the rapidly growing global market for Islamic investments, which are forecast to reach £1.3 trillion next year as oil-rich states fund major building projects.
He will set out plans to establish a new Islamic index on the London Stock Exchange, which will help investors comply with Islamic finance principles, such as bans on investing in alcohol, tobacco and gambling. He will also detail proposals for Britain to become the first country outside the Muslim world to issue its own Islamic bonds, known as sukuk. » | Nigel Morris | Tuesday, October 29, 2013
November 05, 2012
CPI FINANCIAL: The 1st Muscat International Islamic Finance Forum runs at al Bustan Place Hotel 4-5 November under the auspices of Sayyid Asa'ad bin Tariq al-Said. The opening ceremony was attended by a number of ministers, undersecretaries and more than 400 attendees from the region.
His Eminence Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad al-Khalili, the Sultanate's Grand Mufti said the conference would cast light on Islamic Banking and its importance for the Islamic Ummah.
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, former Prime Minister of Malaysia delivered a speech where he said that Islamic countries should exploit the bounties provided to them by Allah through following the teachings of Islam. He added that, “There is a dire need for Islamic banking in this age to make the optimum utilisation of the available capital in the Islamic world.” » | Robin Amlôt | Monday, November 05, 2012
March 30, 2012
THE ATLANTIC: While Tunisia's Islamist party tries to downplay the role of Islamic finance, Hong Kong welcomes it with open arms. Why?
Tunisia's newly elected Islamist government said this week that it will preserve the nation's pre-revolutionary secular constitution and financial structures. Far away, in secular and wealthy Hong Kong, the local government is pushing to establish a platform for Islamic finance in hopes of becoming the Dubai of the Far East. What's going on here?
Witness the power of marketing. Tunisia's main source of tourism and exports is Europe, where perennial outcries against Muslim immigrants and sharia have incited violence among Europe's anti-Islamic extremists in recent years. Hong Kong, together with the Greater China Region, is courting the Muslim business world to quench its thirst for natural fuels. As a result, we have an odd juxtaposition: An Islamist regime rejecting Islamic finance while a secular capitalist juggernaut claims to welcome it. » | Massoud Hayoun | Friday, March 30, 2012
November 22, 2011
PAKISTAN TODAY: Many people think that Islamic banking and finance is a cure to all the financial woes. In fact that is not the case. Islamic banking and finance is as man-made as the conventional banking. The only difference is that Islamic banking and finance seeks basic guidance from Islamic sources like the Quran, Sunnah, Ijma and Qiyas. Only because of this Islamic banking and finance is free from some of the weaknesses and problems besetting conventional banking. There is very strong theoretical evidence that the principles of Islamic banking and finance are superior to the principles of conventional banking. This is why one would be inclined to assert that had Islamic banking and financial principles been implemented in the financial markets the problems we are facing today in financial industry would have been avoided to a great extent. » | Durdana Najam | Monday, November 21, 2011
July 17, 2010
FINANCIAL TIMES: Islamic Finance is a method of financing and banking operations that abides by Sharia Law. With the help of Bank of London and Middle East we outline the rules that all sharia-compliant financial products have to adhere to.
What are the main rules for Islamic finance?
Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME), a Sharia compliant bank, says the main principles of Islamic Finance is the avoidance of all haram (harmful) activities such as charging interest. In addition to the prohibition on charging interest, Islamic financial institutions must ensure that ambiguity (gharar) or gambling/speculation (maysair) is minimised in transactions and contracts. Complying with Sharia law also means that Islamic Financial Institutions are not permitted to invest in alcohol, pork, pornography or gambling.
How does Islamic finance work?
The overarching principle of Islamic finance is that all forms of interest are forbidden.
The Islamic financial model works on the basis of risk sharing. The customer and the bank share the risk of any investment on agreed terms, and divide any profits between them.
The main categories within Islamic finance are: Ijara, Ijara-wa-iqtina, Mudaraba, Murabaha and Musharaka. >>> Lucy Warwick-Ching | Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Related articles here and here and here
June 30, 2010
BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK: HSBC Holdings Plc is overtaking CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. as the top underwriter of Islamic bonds as sales from the Gulf pick up and corporate issuance from Malaysia, the biggest market for the debt, declines.
HSBC, Europe’s biggest lender by market value, arranged $1.6 billion of global sukuk so far in 2010, about 25 percent of the total, led by Saudi Electricity Co.’s issuance in May, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. CIMB Group, Malaysia’s second-largest banking group, led $1.4 billion of sales of debt that complies with the religion’s ban on interest. Last year, CIMB was the top underwriter, managing $4.4 billion of offerings.
“The origin of the issuer may have an impact on the decision to hire which underwriter,” Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin, chief economist at Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd., the country’s oldest Shariah-compliant bank, said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. “If the issuance amount is huge, issuers may have some level of comfort with a foreign bank.”
Sales of Malaysian ringgit-denominated sukuk slumped 44 percent to 9.4 billion ringgit ($2.9 billion) so far this year as companies delayed infrastructure projects after the economy slipped into recession in 2009. The government began a 230 billion ringgit, five-year development plan on June 10, which may revive offerings of Islamic bonds, according to Malaysian rating company RAM Holdings Bhd. >>> Soraya Permatasari and Khalid Qayum | Wednesday, June 30, 2010
February 23, 2010
FINANCIAL TIMES: Dubai-based trading company Surgi-Tech has awarded Aston Business School £1.5m to set up an Islamic Finance and Business Centre at its campus in Birmingham.
The centre will allow Aston to increase teaching and research into Islamic finance, which has been expanding as Muslims seek alternatives to Western finance that are compliant with sharia law. >>> Jonathan Guthrie | Monday, February 15, 2010
June 01, 2009
AME Info: Islamic Finance Info Inc., the online company dedicated to offering the Muslim investors financial and investment information service in compliance with Islamic principles, announces the launch of its Islamic Finance web portal at www.islamicfinanceinfo.com.
The ultimate goal of establishing the web portal is to create a platform that is totally dedicated to Islamic Finance so that the relevant information could be disseminated across the globe.
Islamic Finance have been proven to be resillient against the current global financial crisis because it follows the tenets of Shariah that have prohibited its association to elements such as riba, speculation and uncertainty. Now, many people, Muslims and non Muslims alike are curious to find out more about Islamic Finance. IFI's objective is to provide the answers to all things related to Islamic Finance.
The Islamic Finance portal will provide educational information on the basic principles of Islamic finance, the various types of Islamic finance products and the other key principles in Islamic Finance.Membership is currently free and will entitle the users to access the various databases that are currently set up. Amongst those that are available would be the list of Islamic banks. Takaful companies, Shariah scholars and Islamic funds.
Islamic Finance Info Inc. was founded by two investors with extensive experience in Islamic Finance and Information Technology. The company is currently in the process of setting up its various offices. It will eventually have a key presence in Dubai and Singapore respectively. [Source: AME Info] Monday, June 01, 2009
March 15, 2009
BLOOMBERG: The Vatican said banks should look at the rules of Islamic finance to restore confidence amongst their clients at a time of global economic crisis.
“The ethical principles on which Islamic finance is based may bring banks closer to their clients and to the true spirit which should mark every financial service,” the Vatican’s official newspaper Osservatore Romano said in an article in its latest issue late yesterday.
Author Loretta Napoleoni and Abaxbank Spa fixed income strategist, Claudia Segre, say in the article that “Western banks could use tools such as the Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, as collateral”. Sukuk may be used to fund the “car industry or the next Olympic Games in London,” they say.
Pope Benedict XVI in an Oct. 7 speech reflected on crashing financial markets saying that “money vanishes, it is nothing” and concluded that “the only solid reality is the word of God.” The Vatican has been paying attention to the global financial meltdown and ran articles in its official newspaper that criticize the free-market model for having “grown too much and badly in the past two decades.”
The Osservatore’s editor, Giovanni Maria Vian, said that “the great religions have always had a common attention to the human dimension of the economy,” Corriere della Sera reported today. >>> By Lorenzo Totaro | Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Hat tips: Always On Watch and Infidel Bloggers Alliance
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy) >>>
February 10, 2009
REUTERS: LONDON/MANAMA - Cash-strapped Western companies are considering issuing Islamic bonds to tap Middle Eastern investors but face a challenge in choosing the right instrument, bankers and asset managers said.
Companies, especially in the UK and France, are looking to Islamic compliant investors as alternative sources of finance as the global crisis restricts their usual funding routes.
"There is a lot of interest from corporates to issue sukuk. My feeling is that as liquidity in the West gets scarce, they will look into the Middle East," said London-based Adnan Aziz, head of sharia advisory and structuring at asset manager BMB Group.
British retailer Tesco (TSCO.L) issued its first sukuk -- or Islamic-compliant debt --in 2007 for its Malaysian unit as well as raising conventional debt.
Islamic bonds do not pay interest, which is banned under Islamic law or Sharia, and are structured as profit-sharing or rental agreements, underpinned by physical assets such as real estate or commodities.
"We have discussions with clients, conventional issuers in Europe and we pitch both solutions, (bonds and sukuk) that is going to be a trend going forward," said Vikrant Bhansalim, who works for French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) in London.
"In today's world the corporate sector is interested in the right price, the format is not as important," he said. >>> Reuters | Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>
REUTERS:
Indonesia Reports Strong Demand for First Retail Sukuk >>> Reuters | Tuesday, February 10, 2009
SMART BRIEF: Report Details Growth of U.K.'s Islamic Finance Sector
A report by International Financial Services London found that the Islamic finance sector in Britain, with $18 billion in assets, is much larger than that of Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Bangladesh, countries where Islam is the primary religion. The report also states that the U.K. leads Western countries in the number of financial institutions focused on Muslims and sharia-compliant products. >>> The Telegraph | Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>
February 02, 2009
AME Info: The financial crisis has widened the global appeal of Islamic finance as western governments and institutions attempt to tap into deposits from the Islamic world by courting Islamic Financial Institutions (IFI), which remain relatively unscathed by the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
IFIs comply with Sharia, or Islamic law. One of the fundamental principles is that it is forbidden to sell what you do not own. So unlike other banks around the world, IFIs did not trade bundles of sub-prime mortgages and therefore have no direct exposure to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
In fact, finance that complies with Sharia now accounts for around $700 billion of assets and is growing at 10 to 30 percent a year, according to Moody's Investors Services. >>> | Monday, February 2, 2009
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>
January 11, 2009
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