The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), which lists the Jihadist Shariah scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani as the chair of its Shariah Advisory Board, will hold its annual conference in Bahrain this year… http://www.ameinfo.com/kfh-bahrain-sponsors-aaoifi-annual-sharia-conference-337986
Gulf Nations to Continue Shariah-Compliant Sukuk Push
On February 13, 2013 · In Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Creeping Shariah, Dubai, Emirates, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), HSBC, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Finance, Islamization, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, SUKUK
HSBC Bank, perhaps the West’s most shameful pimp for Shariah-Compliant Finance, and a serial violator of Treasury regulations regarding Iran sanctions, is reporting that the market for Shariah-Compliant bonds (known as sukuk or Islamic bonds) is set to break records in 2013 thanks to the proliferation of issues from Gulf states. Mohammed Dawood of HSBC [...]
The Wall Street Journal Weighs In On Al Goreeza: Inconvenient Truths About Al Jazeera…and about Dow Jones too
On January 8, 2013 · In Al Jazeera, Bahrain, DeLorenzo, Dow Jones, Dow Jones Islamic Market, Hamas, Investors Business Daily, Islamic Finance, Islamization, madrassas, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Shariah Boards, Shariah Finance, Usmani, Wahhabism
We’re glad to see that the Wall Street Journal has weighed in on the nefarious aspects of Al Jazeera, echoing what we reported here on SFW last week: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2013/01/03/al-gore-sells-out-to-qatar-state-owned-al-jazeera-buys-current-tv/ It’s worth pointing out some of the highlights in the Journal’s article: …the network reflects the interests of the government that runs it—making it akin to [...]
Long-time readers of SFW may recall some posts from the past two years alluding to the fact that, despite a great deal of hype, Shariah-compliant banking is failing in the United Kingdom. For instance, in June of 2010, we posted a report from the Australian media quoting industry insiders in the UK admitting that Shariah-compliant [...]
The market for Islamic bonds was seriously rocked from 2007-2009 when the global economic crisis forced numerous defaults. Lately the sukuk market has been thriving, with new issuances setting records. Clearly, sukuk have become the instrument of choice for spreading Shariah in the financial world. But in the past week there have been two high [...]
The financial jihadis are celebrating at the World Islamic Funds and Financial Markets Conference in Bahrain. They are celebrating the meteoric growth of Shariah-Compliant Finance, a development that the West should be deploring, since the main purpose of Shariah-Compliant Finance is to promote Shariah itself. Estimates announced at the conference indicate that investors globally hold more [...]
The most prominent weapon in the financial jihadists’ arsenal is the sukuk, also known as the Islamic bond. Sukuk have taken off like wildfire in the Islamic world and they are being pushed out hard to the non-Muslim world. South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand are just three nations that have come under intense pressure [...]
Al-Baraka Banking Group, the leading Islamic banking group based in Bahrain, announced the organization of the 32nd session of its annual symposium on Islamic economic system on Aug. 10-11 at the Jeddah Hilton. The symposium, to be held under the chairmanship of Saleh Kamel, chairman of Al-Baraka Banking Group, will discuss a number of emerging [...]
Bahrain, one of the centers of Shariah-Compliant Finance, has been hard-hit by the unrest in the Arab world and its economy has been disrupted as a result. It remains to be seen what impact this will have on Bahrain’s robust efforts to export Shariah finance around the world… http://www.thenational.ae/business/economy/business-standstill-hits-bahrain-economy
The UK-based investment rating firm Fitch has downgraded Bahrain’s rating due to the instability in the tiny island nation. Bahrain has become a center for Shariah-Compliant Finance and the regime there has taken a leading role in spreading Shariah Finance to the rest of the world… http://apnews.myway.com/article/20110303/D9LNQQ9O1.html
A planned $1 billion Bahrain sovereign bond issue is likely to be delayed as anti-government protests shook the Gulf Arab kingdom on Wednesday while jittery investors, worried about their exposure, sold off state bonds. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/bahrain-bond-idUSLDE71F0I920110216
Bahrain-based Shariah Bank Cuts Size of Sukuk Offering as Costs Rise
On February 10, 2011 · In Bahrain, China, France, India, Islamic Banking, Islamic Bonds, Shariah Banking, Shariah Bonds, SUKUK
Bahrain’s Albaraka Banking Group reduced the size of a scheduled March sukuk (Islamic bond) offering to $250 million-$300 million from the planned $500 million, its Chief Executive Officer Adnan Ahmad Yousuf announced. The cost of borrowing through sukuk has risen since anti-government protests began in Egypt two weeks ago on concern political instability may spread [...]
Perhaps because Shariah banking has received such a cold reception in Great Britain, British Shariah-compliant banks are now moving into the Islamic world. It is yet to be seem how this will work out for them, since Qatar just moved to shut down the Shariah-compliant divisions of HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered in that country. [...]
The World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) will be held from November 22 to 24 at Bahrain’s Gulf Convention Center. More than 1,200 delegates from 50 countries are expected to attend the WIBC.
Hyperion Asset Management, a Brisbane, Australia-based money management firm is the responsible party for allowing the camel’s nose to get under the tent in Australia. “We are delighted to welcome the Hyperion Australian Equity Islamic Fund to Bahrain,” said Economic Development Board chief executive officer Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa. “This reflects the growing [...]
The Shariah scholars are a central concern in Shariah Finance because several of the most prominent are Jihadists with ties to extremist groups. Placing more power in such hands doesn’t help matters. There appear to be two competing entities in this movement: Mufti Taqi Usmani’s AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions) and [...]
What this article ignores is the tendency of Arab Muslims to treat non-Arabs with prejudice. That is one of the chief sources of this “rivalry.” Split by an age-old rivalry stemming from the fight for market share and differences in sharia interpretation, Islamic banking hubs Malaysia and the Middle East have struggled to work together [...]
Though, as is typical with state-controlled media in the Islamic world, you have to search hard to find it in the article linked below, ABC Islamic Bank of Bahrain reported a net loss for the 2nd quarter. The spinmasters at the bank and the Arab media turned the news into a profit for the first [...]
Loss-making Bahrain Islamic Bank, a Shariah-Compliant bank, plans to try to raise up to $143 million in a rights issue at a 37 percent discount, the first time a major Bahraini retail bank has sought fresh capital since the financial crisis. Bahrain Islamic’s shares, which rarely trade on Bahrain’s stock exchange, closed at 159 fils [...]
Investor’s Business Daily has a great editorial worth reading. It seems that Obama administration officials are holding summit meetings with lobbyists at Caribou Coffee across from the White House. Caribou Coffee is a Shariah-Compliant business owned by a bank in Bahrain whose Shariah advisory board chair is the Jihadist Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi (banned from travel [...]
PricewaterhouseCoopers Bermuda partner Colm Homan is confident that Shariah finance business between Bahrain and Bermuda can be up and running within 12 months. His firm recently carried out a study into the potential for Islamic finance in Bermuda and concluded that the market for Shariah-compliant products was very good. This begs the question: Why introduce [...]
Ithmaar Bank in Bahrain was rumored to be experiencing a conflict between its Shariah advisory board and its conventional line of business, as detailed below: “Ithmaar Bank is fully sharia-compliant and has, in this regard, the full support of its independent Sharia board as well as the Central Bank of Bahrain, a statement said. The [...]
The central banks of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have called for “reform” of Shariah-Compliant Finance. But their idea of reform simply means more coordination and industry-wide standards by Shariah scholars (men like Sheikh al-Qaradawi and Mufti Usmani), not true reform. No where in their call for reform will you find increased transparency and [...]
Though the article linked below tries to spin the news as favorable, ABC Islamic Bank’s net profit for the first quarter plunged to $1.8 million this year, down from $5.6 million last year. Net income was down substantially as well. It is typical of news media in Islamic nations to attempt to make bad news [...]
For many years, banks in the Middle East, the Arab world in particular, conducted business in a conventional fashion, with no thought of compliance with Shariah law. But in recent years, financial jihadists have promoted Shariah immensely and more and more banks have moved to Shariah compliance. This is a negative development because it helps [...]
Bahrain Islamic Bank recently held its annual “general assembly” meeting at which, among other things, it appropriated zakat funds. Zakat, for those who are not regular SFW readers, is a form of tithing in Islam. Zakat is also a huge concern when it comes to Shariah Finance and Shariah Banking because at least two of [...]
Note how the experience of IIB flies in the face of all the claims from the financial jihadists that they offer safe haven from economic and financial crisis… Last year was a difficult year for the world economy and financial markets, and global financial crisis hit Bahrain-based Shariah-compliant International Investment Bank (IIB) also as it [...]
Bahrain-based ABC Islamic Bank has posted a net profit of $10.1 million for 2009 compared to $25.6 million for 2008, a sharp decline. http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=BANK&artid=175514
Islamic “megabank” to launch
On February 18, 2010 · In Bahrain, Financial Institution, Islamic Banking, Islamic Development Bank, Islamic Finance, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Shariah Banking, Shariah Finance
The creation of a planned Islamic investment megabank is in ‘fairly advanced stages’ and it will likely be launched in the next six to 12 months, an executive at a firm advising on the project said on Thursday. A plan to form the world’s largest sharia-compliant lender – which is being promoted by the chairman [...]
Deloitte & Touche to establish Shariah Finance center in Bahrain
On February 8, 2010 · In Accounting, Bahrain, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Islamic Finance, Shariah Finance
Consulting giant Deloitte has opted to site its new Islamic Finance Knowledge Centre (IFKC) in Bahrain. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/581062-deloitte-to-base-islamic-finance-centre-in-bahrain
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