LUXEMBOURG - EVENTS - 8th IFSB Summit - May 10-13, 2011

GERMANY - EVENTS - 13th Euro Finance Week (Islamic Finance Conference)

Islamic Finance Conference
Congress Center Messe Frankfurt - Nov 18, 2010

TURKEY - dedicated blog "Islamicfinanceturkey.blogspot.com"

For detailed information about Islamic finance in Turkey - do visit Islamicfinanceturkey.blogspot.com and keep updated.

UK - Two board members at Islamic Bank of Britain resign

Two members of the board of Birmingham-based Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) have resigned.

The bank’s chairman Mohsen Moustafa will step down from 31 December and non-executive director Abdul Hakim Al Adhamy is to resign with effect from 10 November, the Aim-listed bank said in a statement to the stock exchange.

OPINION - Identity banking : a new Islamic paradigm ?

Identity banking : a new Islamic paradigm ?

Source : http://islamicfinancenews.com/

Introduction

Islamic finance is – build upon the Shariah – a viable alternative to conventional finance.

For the individual Muslim, it offers a compliant financial product at a price that is competitive with the products from the regular interest-based deposit banks.  

Islamic banking indeed is not “for free”.  It is a business activity that is supposed to make maximal profits to guarantee its’ own sustainability, be it compliant to the standards as set forth in the Shariah. 

EUROPE - International Borrowers Take to Islamic Bond Market

DUBAI — Until recently the issuance of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, was confined to the Muslim world. But now a number of international borrowers are tapping the markets, including Nomura Holdings in Japan and Europe's first corporate borrower, International Innovative Technologies.

SWITZERLAND - Zurich Financial eyes bolt-on buys in emerging markets

Takaful industry seen growing 15 pct annually for 5 yrs - Says takaful key to Zurich's growth in Mideast
 DUBAI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services AG (ZURN.VX) will continue to eye bolt-on acquisitions in emerging markets and sees Islamic insurance, or takaful, as key to growing its Middle Eastern business, a senior executive said.

MALTA - Malta as a gateway for Islamic Finance

Over the last four years, the Malta Institute of Management, in collaboration with the Malta Union of Bank Employees, played a fundamental role in the efforts to create a constructive discussion on Islamic Finance and on Malta’s role as a gateway to Europe and North Africa for this method of financing.

MALTA - World Islamic Finance Institute established

The founding members of the World Islamic Finance Institute signed an in-principle agreement to form the institute, which will serve as a non-governmental organisation with its headquarters in Malta and an office in Dubai, UAE.

GERMANY - Pak-Qatar Family Takaful plans rights shares (FWU Group)

The Pak-Qatar Family Takaful has decided to issue rights shares up to 33% of its capital at its board meeting chaired by Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah al-Thani, said a spokesman of the Shariah-compliant insurer. “The PQFT has the institutional capacity to cater to the protection and long-term investment needs of the people of Pakistan,” Sheikh Ali said. Principal shareholders of the PQFT are QNB, Masraf Al Rayan, International Islamic, Qatar Islamic Bank, Qatar Islamic Insurance, the Amwal group and Germany’s FWU group.

MALTA - MFSA’s Guidance Note for Shariah Compliant Funds

As a follow up on :MALTA - Opening Speech by The Hon Tonio Fenech, Minister OF Finance, the Economy and Investment at the Islamic Finance Conference 2010 “A New Beginning” - Floriana – 27/10/2010

Here is the reference to the MFSA’s Guidance Note for Shariah Compliant Funds.

MALTA - Opening Speech by The Hon Tonio Fenech, Minister OF Finance, the Economy and Investment at the Islamic Finance Conference 2010 “A New Beginning” - Floriana – 27/10/2010

Ladies and Gentlemen,

May I start by congratulating the Malta Institute of Management for putting together such an excellent programme for today’s conference and for attracting speakers of such quality and experience.

The theme of the programme - “A New Beginning” - is a very appropriate one at this delicate stage in the cycle of the world economy.  Indeed, to be able to talk with confidence on such a subject calls for a sound platform - one that has withstood the test and that has come out of it with renewed focus and vigor.

UK - Gatehouse nimble in picking up business

Gatehouse Bank plc, one of five standalone Islamic banks in the UK, says the industry is starting to benefit from the 2008 financial meltdown of conventional banks.
The London-based wholesale investment bank's business has picked up across all segments, particularly over the last six months, its chief executive officer Richard Thomas told Business Times.

While people were more receptive to Islamic finance in the wake of the 2008 crisis, it took time for that interest to translate into actual transactions, he said.

"I'm now taking business from conventional banks because I'm more nimble and have a different business model. We're not part of that mega-debt culture," Thomas said in an interview on the sidelines of the Global Islamic Finance Forum in Kuala Lumpur this week.

UK - Bank of London and The Middle East Launches Fully Sharia'a Compliant On-Line FX Trading Platform

London, 26 October, 2010 - Bank of London and The Middle East plc (BLME), London's leading wholesale Sharia'a compliant bank, today announced the launch of BLMEFX, one of the world's first Sharia'a compliant web-based FX trading platform to provide clients with direct access to multiple currencies in order to undertake overseas transactions. 

UK - Qatar Islamic Bank eyes UK mid-cap investment spree

The UK unit of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has unveiled a new lending strategy targeting small to medium-sized British companies with limited access to conventional sources of credit, the company said.

LUXEMBOURG - Liquidity management - Islamic finance boost via IILM: Zeti

The establishment of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM) will further enhance the capacity of Islamic finance in facilitating efficient cross-border flows, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor, Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, said today.

FRANCE - IMF - Malaysia promotes Islamic finance at international events (agreement with Banque de France)

Islamic finance is never off the agenda of Malaysian officials whenever they address international, regional or national events relating to finance and the economy. While most IDB (Islamic Development Bank) member countries shy away from promoting Islamic finance on the global agenda including the G20 meeting in Canada in July this year, and some still live in denial about the reality and efficacy of Islamic finance, Malaysia has been championing the Islamic finance agenda, sometimes to the point of embarrassment, not due to their own role but the lack of empathy from fellow Muslim countries.

FRANCE - LUXEMBOURG - INCEIF (Malaysia) on track to become global university in Islamic finance

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) is on track to become a truly global university in Islamic finance going forward.

Its President and Chief Executive Officer Agil Natt said the university would be collaborating with the University of Luxembourg, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Reims Management School in France next year for Islamic finance education.