It was interesting to observe Middle East buyers taking up only 2% of the 30 year sovereign Sukuk issued by Malaysia (the 10 year issuance allocation consisted of 24% Middle East buyers). »
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) observer member Russia continues to make inroads in developing its Islamic finance industry. »
Islamic finance in the United States A report released by the Malaysia Islamic Finance Centre (MIFC) presents an overview and the potential of Islamic finance in the United States. The report states, “The sole issuer from the US was Goldman Sachs, a major investment bank that had issued a USD500mln Wakalah sukuk in September 2014 – the issuance attracted an order book of USD1.5bln. In additi... »
The United Kingdom and Hong Kong push ahead with Islamic Finance ambitions. »
In a speech delivered on 24 March to the Reform Export Summit, Hugo Swire MP, the UK Government minister responsible for Islamic finance development in the UK spoke of the long-term economic trend and development of Islamic finance and how the UK is positioning itself to take advantage of this growth. »
The UK Government re-affirmed its commitment to develop the UK as a global centre for Islamic finance in a report released yesterday. »
The Islamic financial sector in Europe, although small in size, has promising potentials to gain traction given the fast expanding bilateral ties between European countries and Islamic financial hubs of the GCC and Malaysia. »
The La Riba Bank account started in Kenya in 2006 to provide Islamic Finance and Banking services for Kenya’s 8 million Muslims who represent 25% of the population. »
The Bank of London and Middle East (BLME) is an Islamic finance provider based in London which is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the UK’s deposit protection scheme which protects deposits up to £85,000. »
In 2012, the state owned Development Bank of Kazakhstan issued a RM240mln ringgit-denominated sukuk (USD76mln), marking the first sukuk issuance from a former Soviet state. »
