Huge financial scam weakens Iran’s Ahmadinejad
On October 6, 2011 · In Ahmadinejad, Investment Scams, Investment Swindles, Iran, Islamic Banking, Islamic Finance, Shariah Banking, Shariah Finance
According to the authoritative British periodical The Banker, Iran dominates the world of Shariah-Compliant Finance. The two largest Shariah-Compliant financial institutions in the world are Iranian state-controlled banks. Moreover, according to The Banker, Iran is the only nation on earth that claims that 100% of the financial assets in its banks and other institutions [...]
Shariah Finance Sets Sights on Turkey
On October 4, 2011 · In Islamic Banking, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Finance, Shariah Banking, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, SUKUK, Turkey
One of the few overwhelmingly Islamic nations that has so far not embraced Shariah-Compliant Finance is Turkey. Despite efforts by Islamist elements in the country, only 5% of banking assets in Turkey were Shariah-compliant at the end of 2010. So it seems curious in a way that the Islamic media would proclaim that Shariah finance [...]
Lloyd’s of London’s Syndicate 3500 has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Pennsylvania against Saudi Arabia, several Saudi charitable and financial entities and prominent Saudi citizens over the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Lloyd’s says the Saudi defendants are directly responsible for the attacks and should therefore be responsible for $215 million in claims [...]
An Iranian businessman, Amir-Mansour Aria, has been accused of defrauding the world’s second largest Shariah-compliant bank out of $2.6 billion. SFW readers may recall us mentioning the bank, Bank Saderat, from time to time: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2009/08/12/shariah-compliant-finance-helps-terrorist-banks-in-iran/ Bank Saderat is second only to Iran’s Bank Melli on the list of largest Shariah-compliant financial institutions in the world. Iranian [...]
The indispensable people over at The Investigative Project on Terrorism are reporting that the Obama Justice Department have reached a settlement with a Shariah-compliant financial institution being investigated for involvement in terrorism financing and tax evasion. The Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (IICG) was part of a web of financial institutions with ties to [...]
Some REALLY Bad Ideas on How to Solve America’s Debt Problems
On August 9, 2011 · In Creeping Shariah, Da'Wah, Debt Bonds, Defaults, Economic Crisis, Fatwa, Islamic Banking, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Economics, Islamic Finance, Islamization, MEDIA, Media, Nakheel, Sharia Compliant, Sharia Products, Shariah Banking, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, Shariah Law, stealth jihad, SUKUK, U.S. Policymakers, USA, Usmani, Usury, Zakat
Not surprisingly, the financial jihadists are promoting Shariah as the solution to America’s debt problems. We’ve seen this before. Back in 2008, in the wake of the subprime mortgage debacle and near-financial meltdown, the financial jihadists insisted that Shariah-compliant finance would have avoided the whole mess. Then, in 2009, defaulting on sukuk (Islamic bonds) just [...]
Emotions are running very high in Nigeria and the issue of the country’s central bank governor insisting on introducing Shariah-compliant banking is front and center in a clash of civilizations within the African nation… At a time when the Nigerian polity is on fire and the Islamic radicalism is the celebrity of death, one wonders [...]
Each new day brings another story over the seeming clash of civilizations in Nigeria. Though it has not been reported separately and is not the primary subject of the article linked below, evidently, an organization calling itself the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria has threatened to start a war if Nigeria does not adopt [...]
We’ve been watching developments in Nigeria closely as of late. Lamido Sanusi is that country’s central bank governor and, unfortunately, he is also a Shariah scholar of sorts. As we have reported previously, he is pushing hard for Nigeria to embrace Shariah-compliant finance and has pulled all sorts of strings to facilitate it. This has made [...]
Here is the latest development in the saga involving creeping Shariah and the effort to impose Shariah finance in Nigeria. If you recall, previously we reported on how the central bank chief in Nigeria is attempting to circumvent regulations to allow Shariah finance to gain a foothold in the west African nation. Then came reports [...]
Were you aware of their prominent position in promoting Shariah globally? Is this the kind of company you want to do business with? HSBC Amanah has recently won six awards, in recognition of its leading Islamic capabilities, from arranging Sukuk to structuring Islamic investments, providing custody services and trade financing. http://main.omanobserver.om/node/58387
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 [...]
Readers of SFW may notice that we have devoted several posts in recent weeks to Nigeria. The chief of the central bank in Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi, is an unapologetic financial jihadist and describes himself as a “shariah scholar.” He has been pushing hard for Shariah banking and finance in Nigeria, so hard in fact, that he [...]
Though the typically cheerleading article linked below doesn’t provide a detailed explanation (no surprise there), Moody’s has assigned a negative outlook on a major Islamic bond offering by a Shariah-compliant bank in the UAE, site of some of the most infamous sukuk defaults over the years… The outlook on FGB’s ratings is negative and therefore [...]
It’s not so newsworthy that foreign investors are interested in acquiring a 50% share of Bank Muamalat, a major shariah-compliant bank in Indonesia. But it is worth mentioning that Indonesia’s central bank has declared that no foreign investor will be permitted to alter the bank’s shariah-compliance platform. Note that when Shariah-compliant institutions invest in the West, [...]
Mallam Sanusi, the Shariah scholar who also unfortunately chairs the central bank of Nigeria and is championing Shariah Banking in that African nation, claims that Al Qaeda attempted to open a Shariah-Compliant bank in Nigeria in the 1990s but was turned down because it could not meet the licensing requirement. This claim is remarkable and [...]
Lately we’ve been watching the story of how Shariah Banking has begun to infiltrate Nigeria by bypassing the political process there and winning special regulatory concessions that conventional banks don’t enjoy. Now we offer an article that identifies the personality behind the financial Jihad in Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, “a Shariah/Arabic scholar,” who heads Nigeria’s central bank [...]
The approval given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the operation of Islamic banking in the country is generating disquiet in the polity. Reasons for this are not difficult to fathom. The apex bank, apparently unimpressed by reservations expressed on the initiative in some quarters, last week, announced its approval in principle of [...]
Currently Greece faces a debt crisis that, apart from its obvious disastrous financial consequences both in a domestic and in a global scale, also raises security concerns related to terrorist networks of Islamist origin. In Athens, Greece, the Iranian Saderat bank is hosted, which is a U.S black-listed institution due to alleged links with Hezbollah. [...]
Note the typical tactic on the part of the financial jihadists to claim–falsely–that Shariah compliance is protection against economic and financial dislocation… CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and indeed other Islamic financial experts have touted NIB as the panacea for the ills of the overly capitalist driven financial systems of the world in the [...]
Accountants play a vital role in the world of finance. They are supposed to be the unbiased analysts and observers of data who help keep the rest of us from making egregious mistakes either based on emotion or because we simply lack the sophistication to decipher the numbers to fully understand a financial arrangement. Unfortunately, [...]
Ireland has launched a misguided campaign to become the home of Shariah-compliant finance in Europe in an effort to rebuild its financial services sector. The Irish who are behind this move have no idea what they are inviting into their nation. In one generation, Ireland will no longer be recognizable under the yoke of Islamization. The country [...]
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday announced minimum capital base requirements for Islamic banks. Critics faulted the central bank on the introduction of Shariah banking, pointing out that Nigeria is a secular state and the CBN Act does not empower the central bank to introduce Shariah banking. Faulting the central bank on the introduction [...]
The reason SCF is presented to the world as an “ethical” or “socially responsible” vehicle is not because Islamic Finance limits usury through interest-free products or provides bankers with halal ways and means to profit. The reason SCF is considered socially responsible is because it is a wealth redistribution scheme. One fortieth or 2.5% of the funds are [...]
Qatar Islamic Bank benefits from protectionist policies
On June 7, 2011 · In HSBC, Islamic Banking, Islamic Finance, Qatar, Shariah Banking, Shariah Finance
Qatar Islamic Bank is said to be doing well, largely because the regime there ordered all Islamic financial institutions that are subsidiaries of conventional financial institutions to cease operations in the country. This is further proof to those who associate Shariah-Compliant Finance with capitalism and free markets that Shariah-Compliant Finance is in fact a centralized [...]
One concern about Shariah Finance is the whole shadowy practice of “purification,” in which “ill-gotten gain” is donated to Muslim charities selected by Shariah advisors to literally “purify” a fund or financial institution that may have garnered income or gains from some haram (forbidden) source. There is obviously a moral hazard here with the potential [...]
Note that the only way for Shariah-Compliant Finance to thrive in Egypt was for the original Jihadist terrorist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, to ascend to power: Although Egypt is considered the birthplace of Islamic finance, which adheres to Islamic principles banning interest and speculative trading, its growth has lagged due to past corruption scandals, while [...]
Maybank Islamic today distributed a total amount of RM 7.07 million to 15 State Zakat centers as well as to charity bodies and organizations in Malaysia, an increase of RM2.06 million compared to the financial year of 2009. The total amount of zakat is derived from the profits earned by Maybank Islamic Berhad for the [...]
CNN has a pretty good article that summarizes just where Al Qaeda is getting its money. Regular readers of Shariah Finance Watch will not be surprised by what CNN points out. CNN’s article identifies 4 primary sources of funding for Al Qaeda: “…wealthy individual patrons, infiltrated charities, criminal activities and legitimate businesses.” They are incorrect [...]
Richard Thomas: Candidate for Dhimmi of the Year
On April 25, 2011 · In Dubai, Islamic Banking, Islamic Finance, Shariah Banking, Shariah Finance, UAE, United Kingdom
Islamic finance is gradually building momentum across the world and will likely lead the re-emergence of the global financial industry from the recent crisis. However, the industry needs a level playing field to achieve its potential, said Richard Thomas, Chief Executive of London-based Gatehouse Bank, in a recent interview with Gulf News. http://gulfnews.com/business/banking/islamic-finance-could-lead-banks-recovery-1.798592
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