Concerns are surfacing that DIFC Investments of Dubai will struggle to make payments on its $3 billion debt financed by Sukuk (Islamic bonds)… “The source of that sukuk repayment is going to be asset sales. So, as much as there is uncertainty in their asset- sale plan, obviously there will be concern on their sukuk [...]
The recent notification by Kuwait’s International Investment Group (IIG) KSCC that it was not in a position to make the periodic payments due on July 12, 2010 on its $200 million exchangeable Sukuk (Islamic bond) issued in 2007 and which matures in 2010, once again turns the spotlight on the troubled market. This is the [...]
Here we have a marketing piece by Reuters (whose parent company is thoroughly involved in Shariah Finance) masquerading as a news story. In what other industry or financial sector could a rash of defaults–combined with high fees and conflicts of interest–prompt a wave of faux optimism as expressed in this Reuters fluff piece? Recent sukuk [...]
The lure of Islamic bonds appears to be wearing off for borrowers in the Persian Gulf region, with high-profile defaults and rising costs souring their appeal. “Dealing with Sukuk defaults, standardizing Shariah interpretation, and increasing Sukuk liquidity, we believe, are at the root of issues that could curb future growth,” said Mohamed Damak, analyst for [...]
The decision to bail out Dubai World is set to boost demand for sukuk (Islamic bonds) going forward, despite the categories overall higher-than-average default rate… http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-24/dubai-bailout-boosts-demand-for-gulf-s-sukuk-islamic-finance.html
Sukuk “Alert”
On June 23, 2010 · In Abu Dhabi, Debt Bonds, Dubai, GE Capital, Indonesia, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Finance, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, Sudan, Thailand
Official and private entities in Jordan, Indonesia, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Luxembourg, Sudan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Thailand, Islamic Development Bank and General Electric (GE) all are contemplating or planning Sukuk (Islamic bond) offerings in the near future… http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-22/jordan-indonesia-islamic-development-bank-plan-sales-islamic-bond-alert.html
This article is from MoneyLaundering.com. It tends to overplay the amount of cooperation that the US is getting from the UAE in our opinion, but it also contains some good information. These particular lines are revealing of Dubai’s status as a financial rogue nation: “…every major” Dubai real estate project “has been, in part, financed [...]
Beleaguered UAE mortgage lender, Tamweel may be acquired by Dubai Islamic Bank, the UAE’s largest Shariah-compliant lender. http://www.kippreport.com/2010/06/dubai-islamic-bank-may-acquire-tamweel/?
Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the man who rules Dubai, has issued a decree regulating the endowment sector’s (Waqf), income and expenses in compliance with Shariah laws. Endowment funds include educational Waqf endowment, Islamic Affairs Waqf, endowment fund for orphans and needy people, health endowment fund, social care fund, charity fund, and family endowment [...]
The GCC conventional bond market recorded a poor performance in the first quarter of 2010 amid Dubai-linked and broader sovereign debt fears, NCB Capital, the largest investment bank in Saudi Arabia and a subsidiary of National Commercial Bank, reported. Primary issuance fell by some 70 percent in value from the average of the previous three [...]
Dubai Islamic Bank reports that its first quarter profits nosedived a whopping 46% compared to a year ago. Of course, you’d hardly know it from the spin contained in the article linked below, which, in the best traditions of Shariah Finance, attempts to conceal the truth by making a silk purse out of a sow’s [...]
Sauds Continue to be at Center of Terror Financing
On May 7, 2010 · In Al Qaeda, Dubai, Jihad, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Terror, Terror Funding, terrorism, UAE, Yemen
A trial under way in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, of a Saudi Arabian accused of financing a militant group illustrates the challenges involved in shutting loopholes exploited by the terrorist factions and their shadowy facilitators on a global scale. Ali Abdullah is charged with providing 54 million rupiah — about $6,000 — to [...]
Islamic Bond market forecast to ride “rough patch”
On April 15, 2010 · In Debt Bonds, Defaults, Dubai, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Finance, Kuwait, Shariah Bonds, SUKUK
FT’s Robin Wigglesworth continues to exhibit a lack of curiosity when it comes to Shariah finance… http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sid20100414_8473_283
Though The Economist continues to actively ignore many of the fundamental concerns surrounding Shariah-Compliant Finance, the article linked below about the Sukuk market is actually fairly well done, especially when one considers that The Economist has basically been nothing but a shameless cheerleader for Shariah Finance heretofore… The article points out many of the problems [...]
Charles Ridley, a British citizen living in Bahrain, has been charged with massively defrauding Dubai Islamic Bank. He made an impassioned plea to defend himself in court in Dubai and actually quoted from the Koran in doing so. (Evidently, Mr. Ridley, despite living in the Middle East for many years, is ignorant of the fact [...]
Dubai Financial Market set to create Islamic benchmark
On April 1, 2010 · In Dubai, Islamic Finance, Islamic Index, Sharia Compliant, Sharia Products, Shariah Finance, UAE
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) is planning to launch an Islamic index in the near future. While the purpose of this index is certainly a nefarious one, the promotion of Shariah Finance, it may also serve a helpful purpose. If the list of Shariah-compliant companies who make up the index are published (and they might [...]
Oxford Analytica Continues to Shill for Shariah
On March 10, 2010 · In AAOIFI, Accounting, Creeping Shariah, Dubai, Islamic Banking, Islamic Bonds, Islamic charities, Islamic Economics, Islamic Finance, Islamic Law, Shariah Banking, Shariah Boards, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Councils, Shariah Courts, Shariah Finance, Shariah Law, Sudan, Syria, Terror, Terror Funding, terrorism, Usmani, Zakat
The economic consultancy Oxford Analytica has frequently used its space on Forbes.com to promote Shariah-Compliant Finance. We have pointed this out on SFW in the past: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/?s=Oxford+Analytica Oxford Analytica has taken yet another step to promote financial jihad with an article on Forbes.com. This new article is so overrun with troubling and disturbing aspects that [...]
Sales of bonds that comply with Islamic laws will remain “weaker” this year as investors shun riskier, higher-yielding assets on concern governments will struggle to repay debt. Sales of the bonds known as sukuk have totalled $564 million so far this year, compared with $2.5 billion for the first quarter last year, according to data [...]
Islamic finance needs regulation: experts
On February 18, 2010 · In Dubai, Islamic Finance, Shariah Boards, Shariah Finance, Terror, Terror Funding, terrorism, Usmani
Linked below is an article from Reuters which is covering a Reuters-sponsored event promoting Shariah-Compliant Finance. On its face, it appears to be calling for something good and positive: regulation of Shariah Finance to prevent another Dubai debacle. But a closer inspection of the facts reveals that this is simply a call for more foxes [...]
The Spin Doctors Are Back At Work in Dubai
On February 11, 2010 · In Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank, Islamic Banking, Islamic Finance, Shariah Banking, Shariah Finance
Old habits die hard. Last year, many Western individual and institutional investors were blindsided by the Dubai Islamic Bond Default Debacle. The lack of transparency and full disclosure which is inherent in Shariah-Compliant Finance resulted in international investors being blindsided. Now, we are treated to the news report linked below from Dubai Islamic Bank. At [...]
To follow up a story we’ve already reported on twice, the UAE’s efforts to infiltrate Australia with Shariah Finance, we found an article which describes these activities vividly. Nearly two years ago, at an Economic Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, several high ranking ministers from Islamic nations released a statement encouraging the “Islamic finance” industry [...]
Last July, we reported on the first leg of a UAE “trade mission” to Australia whose aim it was to promote Shariah finance in Australia. That same mission is now on the second phase of its dawah operations Down Under. Ironically, virtually the entire effort is being driven by the government of Dubai, which has [...]
Moody’s Downgrades ANOTHER Sukuk Issuer
On February 1, 2010 · In Abu Dhabi, Debt Bonds, Defaults, Dubai, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Finance, Moody's, Moody's Investor Service, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, SUKUK, UAE
Last week reported that Moody’s Investor Services had downgraded a Kuwaiti firm that had issued Sukuk (Islamic Bonds). http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2010/01/27/another-sukuk-issuer-in-deep-trouble/ This weekend we were greeted with the news that Moody’s had downgraded yet another Sukuk issuer, this time a real estate development firm out of Abu Dhabi. If this is a harbinger of things to come, [...]
As we reported not long ago, one of the oldest banks in Kuwait, BKME, will soon complete the conversion process from legitimate, civilized finance to Shariah Compliance. Now we learn that in justifying this move, they are making claims about the durability of Shariah-Compliant financial institutions in the face of economic crisis: “Islamic banking is [...]
The total debt of cash-strapped Dubai could be as much as 170 billion dollars, much higher than earlier reported, according to a report by EFG-Hermes regional investment bank. This could result in a default from real estate property firm Nakheel on $4.1 billion in sukuk (Islamic bonds). http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/19012010/323/photo/property-giant-nakheel-default-4-1-billion-dollars-islamic-bonds.html? http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iD24lBQsNXlQXMjk51XSkF3WTdtA
Despite the financial trouble plaguing Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank is expanding operations into Jordan. Jordan now has 3 Shariah-Compliant financial institutions. (The small number should be regarded as more evidence that the recent expansion of Shariah Finance is a modern phenomenon which is symbolic of the growing influence of Jihad in all its forms in [...]
Qatar Islamic Bank, the Gulf state’s second largest lender by market value, saw fourth-quarter net profit drop 23 percent on Monday, falling shy of analysts expectations. Not long ago, Qatar Islamic Bank revealed that it had an exposure in the Dubai default debacle. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60H14K20100118?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=hotStocksNews&rpc=401 This is but the latest in a series of disappointing reports [...]
Dubai Debts Prompt Review of Shariah Finance
On January 14, 2010 · In Abu Dhabi, Debt Bonds, Defaults, Dubai, Economic Crisis, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Economics, Islamic Finance, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, SUKUK
SFW has long maintained–and pointed out–that Shariah-Compliant Finance is in now way immune to market and economic forces and thus cannot provide a safe haven in the event of economic or financial crisis. We point this out because so many financial jihadists routinely commit fraud by claiming that Shariah Finance is protected by the principles [...]
In the civilized world, this would be referred to as a “default.” But in the world of Shariah, it’s simply called a “standstill.” Creditors have little choice but to go along with the swindle that Dubai has perpetrated on them. Sooner or later, maybe Western financiers will discover that all of the added but often [...]
Financial jihadists have long held up Dubai as an example of the marriage of modernity and Shariah Islam. Of course, Dubai’s status as a world-class financial center suffered a severe setback when Dubai World defaulted on its Islamic bonds. Nevertheless, just last week, Dubai proudly dubbed its new tallest building, another modern marvel (though there’s [...]
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