posted by Christopher W. Holton Multiple reports indicate that the Clinton Foundation has raked in a cool $100 million in donations from Sheikhs and despots from the Islamic world, particularly from the Persian Gulf region. Much of this money came in while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, suggesting the real possibility of a worrying […]
Dubai Investments PJSC, whose Shariah bond is rated BB+ by S&P, sold off a ton of assets in the last quarter and is now claiming its bonds will be re-rated BBB soon, or just in the range of investment grade… http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-04/dubai-investments-bullish-on-ending-junk-status-islamic-finance.html
Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Nakheel settling claims
Back in 2009, the Dubai real estate entity Nakheel was the biggest in a rash of defaults on Islamic bonds (also known as sukuk). Nakheel is still working to settle the claims of creditors two years later and wants to issue yet another sukuk as part of a settlement. And to top it all off, […]
London mayor heads to Dubai with hat in hand, asks for more financial jihad
Islamic Development Bank (IDB) President Ahmad Mohamed Ali held a meeting with the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Michael Bear. Ali, who stressed the importance of the annual coordination meetings between the two parties, commended the tangible development of IDB relations with the business community in London, which poses an international hub […]
Sukuk defaulter Nakheel to issue new sukuk
Dubai property developer Nakheel, whose mammoth default on Sukuk payments two years ago stung creditors around the globe, illustrating an overall high default rate in the sukuk category, is now coming back for more. Of course, Nakheel claims that all is well now. The sukuk issue is expected in this quarter. Details as they become […]
Dubai brings Islamic Bonds to Europe
A Dubai based private equity firm called Millennium Private Equity Ltd, which is apparently at least partially owned by the Dubai regime, plans to use Islamic financing for venture capital in Europe after buying the first corporate sukuk in the U.K. European companies may turn more to the Middle East for capital, as the region […]
Nakheel PJSC’s proposed sukuk to settle trade creditor claims is estimated to have a fair value in the low 60 cents to the dollar, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said. The property company, controlled by state-owned Dubai World, will be able to make almost all coupon payments on the five-year Islamic bonds although “we are less […]
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 […]
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 […]
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
A few years ago, Dubai World floated an Islamic bond (Sukuk) to acquire the British port company P&O. The results of that acquisition and the methodology became part of the subsequent default and bailout of Dubai World’s sukuk portfolio. What the article linked below alludes to without coming right out and saying it, is the […]
Shariah finance: The deadly Jihadist weapon with a dollar sign
It is highly appropriate that SFW end 2009 by sharing the latest work from one of the true heroes of the Western world in the fight against Shariah: David Yerushalmi. Mr. Yerushalmi’s essay in the Washington Examiner provides both a primer for those unfamiliar with the issue of Shariah Finance, as well as an update […]
Dubai’s golden sands lose their luster
“Investors trapped by the financial storm in the United Arab Emirates are in unknown legal territory as they try to protect their billions.” (The Times, 10 December 2009) The Dubai default debacle demonstrates in stark detail how the lack of transparency and failure to disclose relevant facts make Shariah Finance risky. Long ago–decades ago–the rest […]
A Shameless, Shallow Advertorial for Shariah Finance from Oxford Analytica and Forbes.com
Malcom Forbes must be spinning in his grave. His namesake publication’s web site has published an article which basically promotes a financial and economic system which by its very nature seeks to replace capitalism and our free enterprise system: http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/10/islamic-finance-after-dubai-business-oxford-analytica-islamic-finance.html?feed=rss_business In fact, the article reads less like journalism and more like a press release from […]
Law firms navigate foggy Dubai regulation as UK awaits asset sale
It seems there isn’t anything in Shariah to cover the restructuring of Dubai World’s debts and assets. This has British lawyers scrambling. Why is this a surprise? It would seem that the lawyers should have done proper due diligence on this matter BEFORE something like this occurred. But, then again, NO ONE in the West […]
The Contagion Spreads: Qatar Islamic Bank has $15 mln exposure to Dubai World
Qatar Islamic Bank has announced that it faces exposure in the evolving debacle emanating from Dubai. This is particularly bad news for this institution since, back in March, it was in serious enough trouble to have been bailed out by the regime in Qatar: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/2009/03/10/qatar-to-prop-up-its-banking-system/ $15 million doesn’t seem like a great deal of exposure, […]
Some in the financial world are being forced to admit that Shariah compliance offers no increased protection against crisis than any other method. Some are even admitting things like the fact that the legal systems in Islamic countries are not mature enough to support sophisticated financial derivatives, such as Sukuk (Islamic bonds). Still, in reading […]
David Yerushalmi is one of America’s foremost experts on Shariah and Shariah-Compliant Finance. Anyone with an interest in this topic should read anything and everything Mr. Yerushalmi has written on the subject. This morning SFW provides a link to his latest work as published by National Review…an especially timely piece which puts the Dubai debacle […]
Dubai Sheikh Calls International Investors A Bunch Of Suckers
After bilking international investors out of billions of dollars, Mohammed al-Maktoum blames the investors for Dubai’s financial troubles! In a way he is right. Many Western investors have been suckered in by Shariah Finance… http://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-sheikh-calls-international-investors-a-suckers-2009-12
Shariah Standing in the Way of Creditors Getting Paid in Dubai
Wealthy investors flocked to the “miracle” of Dubai in recent years. Some invested in Islamic bonds, better known as Sukuk. Sukuk are investments concocted to comply with Shariah law (though there is some debate even about that). Now, the very Shariah law under which Sukuk were designed could end up swindling creditors out of a […]
Dubai in meltdown
The bubble has burst in Dubai and the affliction is spreading to Western financial markets. Yesterday, US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, but other markets were open and shuddered: http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE5AN54C20091126?feedType=nl&feedName=usdai When reading the article linked just above, you may recognize the name “DP World.” This was the company that was scheming to take […]
A week ago, we reported that a sovereign wealth fund controlled by the ruler of Dubai, Dubai Investment Group, was vacating its stake in Malaysian Islamic Bank. https://shariahfinancewatch.org/2009/10/01/a-developing-story-worth-watching-dubai-firm-rethinks-stake-in-malaysias-bank-islam/ Now, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund has stepped in to inject capital into the troubled bank… “Malaysia’s state-run pilgrim fund will double its stake in Bank Islam to […]
An investment company controlled by Dubai’s ruler says it is rethinking its stake in a Malaysian Islamic bank. Dubai Group paid what at the time was $282 million for a 40 percent stake in the bank in 2006. The Dubai firm says it is redirecting its resources “closer to home” in the Middle East. SFW […]
Promoters of Shariah-Compliant Finance claim that it is the solution to the economic and financial crisis. But this report about Bank Islam Malaysia certainly doesn’t seem to support that claim… http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=429793
Just when we were glad that some in the media were taking a critical look at Shariah-Compliant Finance, Barron’s comes up with a real stinker–an article which amounts to a celebration and promotion of Shariah. As usual, this occurs without the article actually ever defining Shariah or identifying any of its characteristics. This probably should not […]
Nakheel to seek US investments Staff Report Published: August 20, 2008, 23:44 Dubai: Senior executives of Nakheel are scheduled to go to the United States tomorrow to meet with a number of top US developers and investors seeking investment opportunities in Dubai. Leading the Nakheel team on this visit to Los Angeles will be CEO […]
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/3a8a80d6f705f8cc/id/365811/cs/1/ Malaysia Sun Saturday 31st May, 2008 The Dubai and UAE real estate industry is booming, with movers and shakers moving in from all parts of the globe. Windfall profits in property have inspired companies and individuals locally and from afar, to zoom in looking for opportunities. Major construction firms from countries […]
Saturday, March 29, 2008 Another Consequence of High Priced Oil: Large Sums of US Assets Purchased by Arab Gulf States Flush with Petroleum Dollars http://floyd-associates.blogspot.com/ Comments by Allysonrt, not the author of the article In September 2007 in a complex set of transactions, Dubai proposed to acquire 19.9 percent of the NASDAQ, placing the […]
Cash-loaded Gulf goes shopping, buys American assets (Hat tip-Margo I.) Wilf Dinnick March 21, 2008 CNN http://www.ibnlive.com/news/cashloaded-gulf-goes-shopping-buys-american-assets/61695-2.html SPENDING SPREE: CEO Mubadala Development Company Khaldoon Mubarak claims their buying is commercially driven. Dubai: The American economy may be in the midst of a financial crisis, but in the Middle East, oil-rich states are flush with cash. […]
Hicks & Gillett in talks with DIC Dubai International Capital (DIC) have confirmed they have been in talks with Liverpool’s American owners about buying a stake in the club. The ownership battle at Liverpool has been the subject of intense speculation for the last few months with uncertainty regarding the futures of American duo […]
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