In an interview with CNBC Squawk Box, Ashraf Mohammed from the Asian Development Bank (ABD) explains why Islamic finance is growing more popular as an alternative to the conventional banking system. Topics discussed included terrorist financing, and the growing importance of Islamic financing across Asia particularly for infrastructure funding in non-Muslim majority countries. »
Outstanding Islamic Debt Securities Approching Conventional Debt Malaysia is a world leader and standard-setter in Islamic finance. In recent years, the government increased the use of Islamic debt instruments for funding purposes. In April 2016, the government issued its fifth dollar-denominated sovereign sukuk (Malaysia 2026, and Malaysia 2046) for US$1.5 billion using nonphysical assets as coll... »
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... »
London is established as the leading western centre for Islamic finance and has been at forefront of key developments in Europe. »
Islamic financial instruments also offer an attractive source of financing for regional infrastructure projects. »
In the annual Global Competitiveness Report produced by the World Economic Forum, no Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) country made it into the top 15 with previously ranked Qatar dropping from ranking 14 to 18. »
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... »
Luxembourg: The Gateway for Islamic finance and the Middle East Luxembourg is the leading non-Muslim domicile for Sharia complaint investment funds, a popular location for listing Sukuk on the primary market and the domicile of choice for the international investment structures of a number of sovereign wealth funds according to a report released by Ernst and Young’s Luxembourg office highlighting ... »