Angela Martins of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi delivered a lecture to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce for its members in São Paulo, titled “The Islamic financial market”. The use of Islamic financial instruments such as Murabaha were discussed as means for Brazilian exporters to offer Sharia compliant transactions to Muslim customers. »

The decision by DBS Bank of Singapore to wind down its Islamic banking unit and integrate the specialist skills of its Islamic finance bankers into its main operations signals new levels of maturity for the Islamic finance industry. Islamic finance sits stronger as part of the total, not a sum of the parts and the move by DBS reflects tighter integration of Sharia compliant financial services, whi... »

International law firm Clifford Chance advised International Company for Water & Power Projects (ACWA Power) on two syndicated commodity murabaha-based transactions to add another SAR1.109 billion (US$295 million) to its revolving shari'a compliant working capital facilities. »

Raja Teh Maimunah, CEO of Hong Leong Islamic Bank, in an interview with Bloomberg stated that Malaysian Islamic banks need to merge to achieve economies of scale, and that the prospects of a possible merger are always on the table. She also explains the potential for growth in digital payments, especially in Vietnam and Indonesia as well as witnessing slower growth in Malaysia. »

Spreads on 10 year Malaysian sukuk over conventional have more than halved since being added to the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index. Malaysia's Shariah-compliant government investment issues were included in the Barclays Global Aggregate Index on March 31, with a weighting of 0.18 percent. At the time of the announcement it was estimated the move would attract at least $2.5 billion to $3 bil... »

In an interview with the African Leadership Network, Lamin Manjang, CEO Standard Chartered Kenya stated the Kenyan government has previously stated it wishes to go down the route of a sovereign sukuk issuance, and that Standard Chartered Kenya is leveraging off the banks international experience in issuing sukuk to assist the Ministry of Finance. »

Whilst the proposed Indonesian or Turkish banks will be hugely overshadowed by Gulf Islamic Banks in terms of assets and capital, they will have access to much bigger markets. Both Indonesia and Turkey being Muslim majority countries with combined populations of around 325 million offer greater growth prospects in engaging unbanked populations of their societies, as well as eating into the market ... »

Crescent Wealth, an Australian Islamic investment firm, announced it had exceeded $100 million in funds under management following a 245% growth in funds under management during the first half of this year. After launching the world's first Islamic Pension fund in 2013, the company has witnessed rapid growth with total member numbers growing close to ten-fold between FY14 and FY15. »

UK Trade & Investment today released a brochure which contains Sharia compliant UK regeneration investment opportunities in the UK. »

Rating agency Standard and Poor's says regulation and fiscal incentives could speed Sharia compliant finance development in Africa. The report further noted that African sovereigns have issued only about $1 billion of Sukuk instruments, compared with global Sukuk issuance of an average $100 billion per year over the past five years. »