SWITZERLAND - Troubled Faisal Bank up for sale

www.reuters.com - (Reuters) - Faisal Private Bank, struggling since the collapse of property schemes in the Gulf and beyond, is up for sale after failing to raise enough money to meet the Swiss regulator's minimum capital requirements, its chief executive said on Thursday.
Chief Executive Mark Koch told Reuters the Geneva-based bank, which called itself the first Islamic private bank, is talking to three potential suitors. Faisal's parent, Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank ITHMR.BH, will be selling part or all of its stake, he said.
"We have had to seek a new shareholder to take a majority position, and have identified several interested parties over the last five months," Koch told Reuters. (source)

FRANCE - Credit Agricole may issue Islamic bond

(Reuters) - French lender Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) is considering either issuing an Islamic bond or creating a wider sukuk program that could lead to several issues, as European banks seek to diversify funding, a senior executive said on Thursday.

"It's something that we're always looking at but it's probably more on the agenda today than yesterday because banks need to diversify funding," Simon Eedle, managing director and global head of Islamic banking, told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit. (source)

RUSSIA - TATARISTAN - Tatarstan Islamic finance hub ambitions boosted

LONDON, Sept 14 (IFR) - Russian republic Tatarstan's ambition to develop a Sharia-compliant market received a boost this week when the Kazan-based AK Bars Bank became the first Tatar credit to secure a murabaha loan.

It was also the first international loan facility compliant with Sharia canons for a Russian bank .

Earlier this year Tatarstan announced an Islamic finance initiative to promote the sector, and the Ba1/NR/BBB- rated Muslim-majority republic backed this up with plans to tap the Sharia-compliant market with sukuk paper. (source)

FRANCE - Al Baraka to launch 100 mln euro bank in France by H1 2012

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Bahraini Islamic lender Al Baraka will expand to France next year and expects to launch a bank with a capital of 100 million euros ($142 million) by the first half of 2012, the bank's top official told Reuters.

Al Baraka had announced in 2009 its plan to launch operations in France but had to postpone it due to the financial crisis. (source)

UK - UK pension scheme names Sharia, ethical managers

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - Britain's new national pension scheme for workers whose employers do not run their own plans has appointed HSBC and F&C to run the Islamic and ethical portfolios respectively.

The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), expected to become Britain's largest pension fund with up to 100 billion pounds ($164 billion) in total assets by 2030, will offer the two portfolios, among others, when it launches next year.(full story)

UK - UK's Gatehouse plans $97 mln sukuk by end Q1 - CEO

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Gatehouse Bank, a London-based sharia compliant investment bank, plans to bring a 60 million pound ($96.77 million) Islamic bond to market by the end of the first quarter, its chief executive said on Sunday. (full story)