UK - EVENTS - TheCityUK Islamic finance - Managing Financial Stability : 25 to 26 June 2012

Date & time : 25/06/2012 08:30 - 14:00

Cost of event : Members Price - £550 / Non-Members Price - £550

Synopsis : Senior Islamic Finance experts are set to gather in London on the 25th - 26th of June 2012 at the inaugural Islamic finance - Managing Financial stability Challenges in a Dynamic Environment (MFSC Summit).

Location :Radisson SAS Hotel, Portman Square, London, W1H 7BG

Description : In light of the prevailing global economic conditions, the value of such a focused gathering in providing the platform for facilitating focused industry discourse that should help to nurture the environment for generating business in these difficult times has become all the more necessary. This gathering will address the challenges faced by the Islamic Finance industry and regulatory authorities in maintaining financial stability in the Islamic Financial Services industry. Key Summit sessions will focus on how regulatory standards can facilitate the enhancement of financial stability in the current challenging global environment.

The Summit seeks to address in detail the issues outlined below:

• Regulatory Challenges
• Corporate Governance & Market Discipline Challenges
• Legal Challenges
• Challenges of Developing Islamic Capital Markets
• Liquidity Management Challenges

For a listing of the full facility of MFSC summit speakers please click here.

To register, please click here.  For further information please visit the official website.

UK - Importance of Islamic finance to the UK economy highlighted at Norton Rose event

House of Lords event brings together parliamentarians and industry practitioners to discuss the future of Islamic finance in the UK

International legal practice Norton Rose LLP held its annual Islamic finance event yesterday led by Farmida Bi, European head of Islamic finance, and hosted in the House of Lords by Lord Sheikh. The event was attended by more than 100 leading experts in the Islamic finance industry including representatives from Islamic and conventional banks. It was also attended by Lord Sassoon, the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury and the minister responsible for Islamic finance, as well as MPs and Peers from all parties.  (source)

RUSSIA - UK - Islamic Finance Goes Global

gfmag.com - Islamic Finance is growing beyond traditional borders to encompass new markets worldwide.

The Islamic finance industry emerged relatively unscathed from the 2008 financial crisis —touting itself as an alternative to the leverage and greed that fuelled the subprime crisis in conventional financial markets. Now in the midst of what looks like another crisis of confidence in global financial markets, practitioners are highlighting its benefits again.

“Islamic finance is a pool of stable capital looking for a home. Every CFO, every government, should look at it as a stable source of liquidity,” stated Afaq Khan, CEO, Islamic Banking, Standard Chartered Saadiq, at SWIFT’s annual Sibos conference in Toronto in mid-September. In a debate entitled Islamic Finance 2.0 Khan and other market luminaries stressed that Islamic liquidity is looking for new markets outside of its traditional centers in the Middle East and Malaysia in order to balance portfolio returns. (source)

UK - EVENTS - Arab Bankers Forum London (Oct 12, 2011)

2011 Sept Islamic Arab Forum London

UK - EIIB - Algosaibi Overwhelmed by Claims, Lawyer Says Can’t Pay EIIB

European Islamic Investment Bank Plc (EIIB) is seeking payment of its $78 million claim against Saudi investment firm Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co. without a trial. 

EIIB, which filed its claim on behalf of a group of other banks, sought the ruling from a London judge after Algosaibi admitted June 15 liability in another case where HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and four other banks are seeking $250 million from the company. Algosaibi, which has defaulted on its debt, said there isn’t enough money to go around. (source)

UK - LUXEMBOURG - London and Luxembourg battle over sukuk listing domicile

London and Luxembourg are engaged in a friendly “battle of the listings domicile” especially for sukuk and Islamic investment funds, and its seems that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) currently has the upper hand on its counterpart in the Duchy, Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

In a short and simple announcement on June 1, the London Stock Exchange welcomed "the listing of another two sukuk bringing the total number of sukuk which have listed on the exchange to 33 and the total money raised to $19.4 billion." The two latest listings coup include the IDB Trust Services Ltd.’s $750 million Trust Certificates, and the SIB Sukuk Company II Ltd.'s $400 million Trust Certificates which are due on May 25, 2016. (source - arabnews)

EUROPE - Growth of “Shariah-Compliant” banking in Europe

The European Union is emerging as a major centre of Islamic finance, based on Islamic Shariah law.

The spectacular growth prospects for the Islamic financial services industry in many European countries is being fuelled by Muslim mass immigration; despite a difficult economic climate on the continent, Islamic banking is growing faster in Britain, France and Germany than it is in many Islamic countries in the Middle East and Asia.

The key role that Europe is playing in establishing Islamic finance in the West was the central theme of the 8th Islamic Financial Services Board Summit, an annual conference that promotes Islamic banking around the world. Hosted by the Central Bank of Luxembourg from May 10-13, 2011, it was the first time the event was held in a European country. (source)

UK - EUROPE - Islamic Development Bank dual lists $750 million Sukuk in London, Kuala Lumpur

The Islamic Development Bank’s (IDB) Trust Certificates are being listed on the London Stock Exchange and Bursa Malaysia. Despite the volatile economic environment around the world, IDB achieved both a larger deal size and tighter pricing, with the deal pricing 3bps inside secondary market levels

"This transaction is important because it sets a benchmark yield for IDB risk," said Rizwan H. Kanji, a debt capital markets partner with the Middle East and Islamic finance practice of King & Spalding in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "It also is expected to help re-energize the Sukuk market after a period of relatively low issuance of Sukuk."

King & Spalding advised the IDB on the $750 million benchmark Sukuk which has been dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange and Bursa Malaysia. The joint lead managers on the transaction were BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank A.G. (London branch), HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank. (full story - source)

EVENTS - Islamic derivatices and structured products - London June 3, 2011

UK - London winning race to capture burgeoning global Islamic finance market

LONDON (AP) - The cavernous ballroom of a London hotel is buzzing with the sound of networking and deal-making between hundreds of bankers, lawyers and investors from the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
The annual Islamic Finance conference in the British capital has grown exponentially over the past decade, attracting all the key international players and underscoring fears that political rhetoric is leaving the United States sidelined in an increasingly lucrative global industry. (source)

UK - Events - Islamic Finance access Programme on Islamic Derivatives & Structured Products (London - June 3, 2011)

Starts:	Friday June 03, 2011, 08:30AM BST
Ends:	Friday June 03, 2011, 05:00PM BST
Event Type:	Training/Seminar
Location:	Clifford Chance LLP (Headquarters) 10 Upper bank Street,Canary Wharf London, GREATER LONDON E14 5JJ GB
Price:	GBP499 + VAT
Website:	http://www.edbizconsulting.com/our_brands/ifap
Industry:	financial services
Keywords:	Islamic banking and finance, Islamic investments, Islamic structured products, Islamic derivatives
Intended For:	CEOs, COOs, Heads of Product Development, Lawyers, Consultants, Compliance Personnel, Risk Managers
Organization:	Edbiz Consulting

UK - EVENTS - London Seminar "Structuring Islamic Investment Funds" (Jan 20, 2011)

2011 edbiz jan

UK - EVENTS - SPEECH - Muhammad: Still Room For Cooperation Between KL And London On Islamic Finance

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- There is still room for cooperation between Kuala Lumpur and London on Islamic finance, says Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) deputy governor, Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim.

He said collaboration between financial centres in Islamic finance was an important part of the process that would contribute towards expanding global development of the industry.

"The importance of our relationship has been cemented not long ago with the signing of the memorandum of understanding between BNM and the United Kingdom Trade and Investment," he said in his keynote address at the ISRA-IIBI Second Annual International Thematic Workdshop 2010 in London Monday.

UK - Events - Euromoney 10th Anniversary Islamic Finance Summit

Date : 21-23 February 2011
Place : The Landmark - London (U.K.)
Website : here.