Goldman Sachs Lies Down With Dogs and Gets Fleas
On January 31, 2012 · In Goldman Sachs, IRELAND, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Finance, Shariah Boards, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, SUKUK
Last September, Goldman Sachs announced that it was going to issue a $2 billion sukuk. The investment banking giant dutifully employed a Shariah advisory firm, Dar Al-Istithmar Limited, and went about the business of putting together the financing arrangement. There was just one problem. Goldman Sachs made one mistake: they trusted the financial jihadis. To make [...]
Maybe the only thing worse than getting in bed with the financial jihadists is to get in bed with the financial jihadists, only to find out they don’t want you. That may be the situation Goldman Sachs finds itself in with regard to its Islamic bond (sukuk) program. It seems Goldman got the blessing from [...]
Shariah Finance Certification Tied to Jihadist-led Organization
On November 25, 2011 · In AAOIFI, Islamic Finance, Shariah Boards, Shariah Councils, Shariah Finance
A UAE-based firm named Ethica has become the industry leader “for accredited training and certification in Islamic finance.” Experts say that what probably sets Ethica apart is that their 4-month Certified Islamic Finance Executive™(CIFE™) certification is the only 100% AAOIFI-compliant, 100% online Islamic finance program in the market today. AAOIFI stands for the Accounting and [...]
Craziness for Profit: Shariah Scholar/Advisor Mufti Taqi Usmani Blames Commodities Markets for Financial Crisis
On November 24, 2011 · In Dow Jones, Economic Crisis, HSBC, Islamic Economics, Islamic Finance, Islamic Law, Sharia Compliant, Sharia Videos, Shariah Boards, Shariah Finance, Shariah Law, Usmani
At SFW we have covered Mufti Taqi Usmani extensively over the years. He has long been considered one of the most prominent and influential Shariah scholars in the world of Shariah Compliant Finance. According to many observers, critics and market participants alike, Usmani is the Shariah finance [...]
Oman central bank rules out Shariah advisory board
On October 7, 2011 · In Islamic Banking, Islamic Finance, Oman, Shariah Banking, Shariah Boards, Shariah Finance
The good news is that Oman is not establishing a centralized Shariah advisory board inside its central bank. Such a board could quickly become very powerful–too powerful. The bad news, of course, is that Shariah Compliant Finance has made its way to Oman, an historically modern country not held back by Shariah. http://www.ameinfo.com/277083.html
Nearly two years ago, SFW published an article in which we uncovered that a Kuwaiti real estate investment concern had successfully imposed Shariah on tenants of its facilities in Colorado by refusing to allow certain types of businesses to operate and activities to take place on their property: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2009/08/17/kuwait-islamic-bank-successfully-imposes-shariah-in-the-usa-courtesy-of-udr/ The article didn’t get any particular [...]
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, [...]
Yours truly was interviewed for the article linked below that was published by the American Banker. The article is disappointing. It wasn’t so much what the article says, but what it does not say that bothers me. I spent a great deal of time on the telephone with the author explaining the concerns over Shariah [...]
Gulf states are working towards the creation of a single Sharia board for the region’s Islamic financial institutions, said Hussain Hamed Hassan, head of Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC’s Sharia committee and chairman of the Sharia Coordination Committee of the Islamic Financial Institutions in the UAE. Speaking at the launch of Hawkamah Institute’s policy brief on [...]
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 [...]
Meezan Bank, which was named the “Best Islamic Bank in Pakistan” in 2010, recently held the 17th annual meeting of its Shariah Supervisory Board. That board is chaired by Mufti Taqi Usmani. We’ve decided to commemorate this event with a repeat of our dossier on Usmani, who, keep in mind, is the Shariah finance world’s [...]
The Shariah Scholar Shortage Problem
On April 11, 2011 · In AAOIFI, DeLorenzo, Islamic Finance, Qaradawi, Shariah Banking, Shariah Boards, Shariah Councils, Shariah Finance, Usmani
Both opponents and proponents of Shariah finance recognize that there are relatively few Shariah scholars available to serve as advisers to financial institutions. Proponents of Shariah finance see this as a problem in that it could inhibit the global growth of the industry. Opponents see the shortage from a different perspective. First of all, several [...]
Many thanks to the intrepid Janet Levy for this translation of an article from a German blog dated 18 March… The Kraken [ed. a type of giant squid – making reference to the tentacles] of Islamic Banking. A hand full of Sharia-Mullahs watch over the Islamic banking institution. Men like Mohammed Elgari from Saudi Arabia, Abdul [...]
Qatar Moves to Shut Down Shariah-Compliant Divisions of International Banks
On February 10, 2011 · In Al Jazeera, Barclays, Creeping Shariah, Doha, HSBC, Islamic Banking, Qaradawi, Qatar, Shariah Banking, Shariah Boards, Usmani
Hat tip to Creeping Sharia for this find… For years now SFW has warned big Western banks like HSBC, Standard Chartered and Barclays about the perils of dabbling in Shariah-Compliant Finance. Each of these banks, but HSBC in particular, has happily jumped in bed with the financial jihadists to get their piece of the Shariah-Compliant [...]
Afghanistan’s central bank expects an Islamic banking law to be enacted by September. The central bank’s sharia board will meet Sunday to finalize the law, said Muhammed Qaseem Rahimi, director general of the central bank’s Financial Supervision Department. It will then go to the Justice Ministry and parliament for approval. “Most of the people who [...]
Bankers in Islamic finance are increasingly outsourcing sharia supervision due to a lack of scholars in the industry, but critics say this is making the sector even less transparent and slowing its development. Instead of maintaining their own costly sharia boards with prominent scholars, bankers are increasingly using consultancy firms that directly deal with the [...]
Euromoney.com is once again giving out awards for compliance to the financial wing of the barbaric, medieval doctrine known as Shariah. They have a whole host of awards to dole out (no fewer than 19 awards in the field of “Islamic” finance), which probably indicates that these awards are a convoluted effort to drum up [...]
Qatar Islamic Bank, the leading Shariah-compliant financial institution in Qatar and owner of the largest Shariah-compliant banking network in the world, has been chosen as the Bank of the Year by the Arabian Business Awards. We at SFW are certainly not celebrating this occasion, but we bring it up for a very good reason. Though [...]
But Who Will “Police” the Shariah Scholars?
On September 30, 2010 · In Islamic Finance, Islamic Law, Regulation, Sharia Compliant, Shariah Boards, Shariah Councils, Shariah Finance, Usmani
We came across this typically ridiculous article about the role of Shariah scholars in “policing” or “guiding” Shariah-Compliant Finance and decided to use it to illustrate the complete disconnect between the concept of responsible financial regulation in the Western world and that in the Shariah-dominated world. Dr Rusni Hassan, a shariah adviser to HSBC Amanah [...]
Spanish-based Allfunds bank has signed on to the financial jihad with their announcement that it has launched an “Islamic Services Unit.” The bank offers 80 Shariah-compliant funds to investors in Spain, Italy, Chile, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and 17 other countries. Allfunds’ Islamic Services Unit was created with a fatwa issued by a Shariah advisory [...]
The Shariah finance standard-setting body AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions) said it would overhaul rules governing Islamic finance scholars whose role and potential conflicts of interest have come under increased scrutiny. Most Shariah-Compliant financial institutions are vying to attract the same small number of influential scholars to their boards, and some of [...]
Civil law and Shariah continue to butt up against each other, this time in Malaysia, where lawyers, bankers and Shariah scholars have had to assess the Shariah Finance industry where Sukuk holders rank in priority of payment when default occurs. A near-default in December of the dollar-denominated Sukuk from Dubai property developer Nakheel created fears [...]
Under the guide of “standardization” of practices, the Taqi Usmani-controlled Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) is continuing its campaign to gain control of the Shariah Finance industry. We’ve covered this emerging development for several months here on SFW and it’s worth a review: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/category/aaoifi/ The latest development in this regard is [...]
The link below will send you to an interview of an insurance executive in Pakistan. Much of the interview makes Takaful seem like just another form of insurance. But there is a stark warning sign in the preface to the Q&A which should put you on guard: “An independent Shari’ah Advisory Board chaired by Mufti [...]
A number of Islamic scholars and economic experts have underscored the need for an overhaul in the Kingdom’s zakat system in a way that would make it more effective and help realize the actual spirit and purpose of zakat in Islam. Of course, this is not altogether good news for the non-Muslim world and non-Jihadist [...]
Maybank Islamic, Asia-Pacific’s largest shariah bank, forecast strong financing and deposit growth on Monday but said the lack of business-savvy religious scholars was a challenge to expansion. This fits in with the growing movement to establish a centralized Shariah governing body, which would be outrageously powerful and probably also opaque… http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE65D0C120100614
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 [...]
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), unveiled its new brand identity in line with its vision to become a top tier global Islamic financial services group and to deliver on its mission of providing “Islamic financial solutions for the Global community”. ADIB also introduces a new slogan that captures its commitment to provide world-class, ethical banking [...]
Andrew Cunningham of the Financial Times recently penned an column that would make any dhimmi proud. He actually sees the solution to Shariah Finance’s woes to be an expanded role “in the boardroom” for Shariah scholars. Worse yet, the context in which he made this proposal was in response to a Kuwaiti Shariah-Compliant company trying [...]
The link below contains a strong indictment of how Shariah Finance is practiced by many of the Shariah-Compliant firms in the world. Many, if not most, Shariah firms hire Shariah scholars to form boards to advise them on Shariah and make sure that their products and activities are Shariah-Compliant. This surprising source indicates that this [...]
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