The prize remains up for grabs with none of the current hubs in the Middle East and South East Asia able to achieve the critical mass to move from a domestic to regional centre, and then upwards into a global Islamic finance centre. »

Yuri Barmin Analyst on Russia and its Middle East policy presents a great overview of the current state of affairs of the development of Sharia compliant financial sector within Russia and the CIS. The double push by Russian banks to enter into Islamic financial markets, initially during the global financial crisis in 2008 and most recently since 2014 due to the imposition of EU sanctions, as wel... »

Report by IMF highlights key challenges facing the Islamic Financial Industry. Islamic Banking (IB) has grown rapidly in value and geographical reach, and has become an important and integral part of the financial systems in many countries. Though IB accounts for less than 2 percent of global finance, IBs currently operate in more than 60 countries and the industry has become systemically importan... »

Central Bank Looking to Implement Fund Based Deposit Shari’ah compliant liquidity facilities Consultation paper looks at establishing a fund based deposit facility for UK Islamic Financial institutions. The work to develop a Shari’ah compliant facility commenced in the second half of 2015, and is part of the Bank’s more general approach to broadening market access to central bank liquidity facilit... »

Increasing the Potential of Islamic Finance in Africa CNBC Africa discussed the growth potential of Islamic Finance in Africa. Samira Mensah, Associate Director for Financial Institutions Ratings at Standard and Poor’s and Ameen Hassen, Head of Shari’ah Banking at Standard Bank participated in a discussion which highlighted the growth space for Islamic finance in Africa. Demand within ... »

Malaysian Islamic Finance at Cross Roads Following its recent Sukuk default, the IMDB corruption scandals continues to cast a dark shadow over the Malaysian financial sector with this week the United States moving to seize more than $1bn in assets, ranging from plush properties to a private jet, from people connected to Prime Minister Najib Razak. Against this backdrop, Islamic finance activity in... »

Bank Negara Malaysia today launched MarketplaceIF, a e-market platform where those seeking Islamic finance financial solutions and services are able to meet providers. »

Nascent Industry Finds a Home in Dubai Alan Greenspan once described people to people contact as a key pillar to building commerce and creating economic activity. Taking the former Chairman of the Federal Reverse at his words, the gathering of individuals at the Global Islamic Economy Summit 2016 this week in Dubai would have done much to create the relationships and entrepreneurial spirit to take... »

Sovereigns, Banks and Corporates in the Gulf will Boost Sukuk Sales in 2017 Sukuk issuances are expected to be flat at around $70 billion for 2016, but are expected to pick up in 2017 as issuers ranging from sovereigns, banks and corporates in the Gulf look to issue to meet their financing needs. $40bn of sukuk was issued in the first half of the year with the marketing slowing in the summer and t... »

Earnings of Islamic Insurers to Remain Weak Two recent reports from rating agencies highlighted the challenges facing the Takaful industry. S&P said in a report looking at the GCC region, earnings of Islamic insurers will remain relatively weak and unevenly distributed as their small size, short track records, and retail focus work against them. Most takaful players in the region are still rel... »