UK Report Looks at Faith Based Finance Public Faith and Finance – Faith responses to the financial crisis is a report recently published by the University of Bristol and supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, and Public Spirit which looks at faith-based responses to the financial crisis. Many references to Islamic finance as well as Christian finance are made throughout the report as part of... »
The outgoing UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne stated London will continue as a major centre for Islamic finance, stating “In recent years the City of London has established itself as a global hub for renminbi, rupee, Islamic finance and green finance, as well as leading in new markets such as FinTech.” The incoming government appointed Alok Sharma MP as Parliamentary Under-Secretary ... »
Following on from KT Bank opening the first retail Islamic bank in Germany, Peter Kruschel, director of banking supervision at the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, discussed Germany’s interest in Islamic banking in an interview with Bloomberg at the Global Islamic Finance forum held in Kuala Lumpur recently. He stated Germany is aware of the potential of the Islamic banking se... »
Islamic Assets tend to be more Risk Averse Sharia compliant funds tend to perform better in times of market turbulence because they do not hold banks or insurers. In an interview with Bloomberg, Gerald Ambrose, Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management said Islamic Assets tend to outperform in uncertain times. Highlighting the low interest rate environment of banks, he added banks are hardly making any mo... »
Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide provides an excellent overview of Islamic financial instruments covering Islamic Financial Institutions (IFI’s), source and use of funds and Takaful. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has taken the lead in promoting methodologically sound and internatio... »
The Oasis Crescent Global Equity Fund (OCGEF) is a Shari’ah compliant equity fund that seeks to provide investors with an ethical investment product. The Fund conforms to moral and cultural beliefs. Fund performance update for May 2016 by Oasis Crescent Global Equity Fund The global economy continues to undergo a number of structural changes, including those taking place in China, where the gove... »
John Cunniff/Flickr/CC »
Top three gainers for the fund in April were Conoco Phillips (+19.74%), MTN Group (+16.63%), and Bristol Myer Squibb (+14.00%). »
HMRC Failed Tax Bid A recent tax case in which the UK Tax authorities (HMRC) failed in a legal bid to recover up to £50m in stamp duty demonstrates the complex nature of Islamic financial transactions. Three Court of Appeal judges decided that HMRC had pursued the wrong party for the tax. The purchaser, a firm owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, had used an Ijara structure to fund the purchas... »
The Malaysia based Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) has published its 2016 report. »