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 […]
Nomura, Japan’s largest brokerage house, looks to Shariah
Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest brokerage, plans to step up efforts to tap demand for investing in Shariah-Compliant products, first in Malaysia and then into the Middle East… http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2020782&Language=en
Islamic finance industry thriving in Malaysia
SFW has devoted a great deal of attention to Malaysia as of late because there has been a barrage of news related to Shariah-Compliant Finance there. It does appear that Shariah-Compliant Finance is growing by leaps and bounds in Malaysia and the growth of Shariah-Compliant Finance anywhere is absolutely nothing to celebrate. Wider Shariah-Compliant Finance […]
With the Help of HSBC and Citibank, Shariah-Compliant Finance is Spreading in the Orient
Banking giants HSBC and Citibank, already infamous for contributing to the spread of Shariah in the West, are now fast at work aiding the spread of Shariah in Malaysia and other key markets in Asia and the Pacific Rim. Keep this in mind when you select banks to do business with. HSBC and Citibank are […]
Linked below is an interview which we found on another Malaysian news web site. We believe it is significant in that it contains an admission that the goal of Shariah-Compliant Finance is global, to link emerging markets and other markets with Shariah as the medium. This is another way of saying that the purpose of […]
Malaysia is fast becoming ground zero in Asia for the Islamic finance tsunami. They have elevated Shariah Finance to the level of a Jihad… http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=431267
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia is in a great position to share with the world its uniqueness of being a comprehensive Islam nation. It is significant to note that the criteria that the prime minister cites are dominated by financial characteristics: “Malaysia has many good examples to share with the world; […]
Malaysia’s Securities Commission has launched a book series on the Islamic capital market which will form the basic module for the Islamic Capital Market Graduate Training Scheme. Written by industry experts and scholars, the book series is aimed at providing an understanding of the basic concepts, features and philosophy of Islamic finance. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/5/business/4457640&sec=business
Speaking at an investors forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today called on local and foreign Islamic finance consultants and advisors to spearhead the enrichment and dissemination of Shariah knowledge. This is not the first time that a political leader in an Islamic nation has instructed the Islamic […]
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
Malaysia’s stock exchange will launch a global murabaha trading platform next month to serve a market worth over $100 billion, amid fierce industry debate over the permissibility of the Islamic funding structure. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSKLR43272420090728
There are two news stories out of Malaysia this week which, at first glance, appear unrelated. But they’re not unrelated. They have a common thread: Shariah. The first item is about a 32-year old woman in Malaysia who was sentenced to caning by a Shariah court (a form of flogging) for drinking a beer: http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-world/model-whipping-sparks-debate-in-malaysia-20090726-dxac.html […]
Malaysian police have arrested nine Christians, accusing them of attempting to convert Muslim university students. Police detained the nine Christians in a room attached to a Kuala Lumpur university. According to police, a Muslim student filed a police complaint accusing the Christians of trying to convert Muslims. Converting Muslims to other religions is a serious […]
Shariah-Compliant insurance, also known as takaful, has been the subject of a considerable amount of scrutiny in recent months since the US Treasury took nearly full ownership and control of insurance giant AIG, which has an active takaful division. This is because the purpose of Shariah Finance–and Shariah-Compliant insurance–is to promote shariah and Islam. It […]
The article linked below is obviously not directly related to Shariah Finance, but it is an example of Shariah courts operating with authority in a supposedly “secular” nation, with that nation’s courts basically rubber stamping a ruling by Shariah authorities. In this case, the ruling involved burying a man as a Muslim, when his family […]
There is a plan being promoted to create an Islamic Investment and Economic Center at the Malaysian Port Klang Free Zone. Besides the obvious contradiction between “free trade” and Shariah-Compliant Finance and Islamic Economics, there isn’t really much about this article that is especially earth-shattering. However, when one looks more closely into the depth of […]
Stress-testing Shariah-Compliant Finance
RGE Monitor has come up with an excellent analysis of the Shariah-Compliant Finance industry and has pretty much debunked all the misleading and flowery reports about Shariah-Compliance providing a safe haven against the current economic decline and financial downturn. It also reinforces another important aspect of Shariah-Compliant Finance that we’ve been writing about on SFW […]
The French bank, BNP Paribas has long had a reputation for being willing to do just about anything to make a franc. After all, they were the one Western bank that was willing to step up and provide financing for Iran when no one else would touch the ayatollahs. To this day, BNP Paribas is […]
It was bound to happen. Shariah-Compliant Finance is spreading to the four corners and it was inevitable that one of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets, China, would be included. The spread of Shariah-Compliant Finance has been made all the more inevitable by the fact that China is now the second largest importer of […]
Shariah-Compliant Finance turning to short-selling
First it was bonds (sukuk) and now Shariah-Compliant Finance is also set to adopt another financial instrument which shariah authorities had considered prohibited for years: short-selling. Is there a pattern here? The way this keeps happening, it certainly tends to reinforce the notion that Shariah-Compliant Finance exists only to spread Islam and Shariah and not […]
According to the shariah authorities who control the world of shariah-compliant finance, Muslims are not allowed to impose or pay interest in financial transactions. (There is actually a little controversy about this. Some claim that usury is banned in Islam, but not all interest. However, as long as the Islamists control the Islamic world, that […]
Promoters of Shariah-Compliant Finance have been falsely bragging about their insulation from the global financial crisis. But the truth is slowly starting to leak out. Shariah-Compliant Finance has been hit by the global financial crisis, just like almost all other sectors. Part of this can be explained by the fact that many of the so-called […]
Malaysian sharia lender RHB Islamic Bank Bhd will no longer use a contract rejected as un-Islamic by Middle Eastern scholars, in a bid to adopt globally accepted sharia standards, a newspaper said on Tuesday. RHB Islamic, the sharia banking arm of Malaysia’s fourth-largest lender RHB,has dropped the use of the bai bithaman ajil structure, the […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Islamic banking is gaining ground with non-Muslims worldwide due to its strict lending principles, Singapore’s third-largest lender OCBC said on Monday, reflecting industry efforts to transcend religious beliefs to gain market share. Sharia finance is a blend of Islamic economics and modern lending principles and its products […]
Malaysia grants Islamic banking licence to firms (Gulf Daily News) continued here KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s central bank awarded two foreign currency Islamic banking licences to companies in Kuwait and Indonesia as it seeks to broaden the country’s Sharia finance success beyond its domestic market.Kuwait’s Al Aqeelah and Bank Muamalat Indonesia have been granted licences […]
Malaysia Islamic body bans yoga for Muslims Staff and agencies 22 November, 2008 Malaysia Islamic body bans yoga for Muslims – Yahoo! News document.body.className = ‘js-enabled‘; Skip to navigation » Skip to content » U.S. Australia/Antarctica Malaysia Islamic body bans yoga for Muslims Buzz Up IM del.icio.us Yahoo! Bookmarks By EILEEN NG, Associated Press Writer […]
Malaysian Court of Justice We are recommending this article to readers of this blog in general for its links in the right column on shariah finance – obviously it is pro-SCF and we disagree with that, but the links and resources are useful. Points of Essence: Malaysian courts are urged to seek guidance from the […]
By Reuters on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 Malaysia’s state investment arm Khazanah Nasional said it has bought a 10 per cent stake in Jadwa Investment, a Saudi-based Shariah investment firm, for 270.9 million ringgit (Dh274m). Jadwa Investment was one of the first Saudi companies to participate in a joint venture with state oil giant […]
Malaysia bans women from wearing men’s clothes and lesbian sexual relations Malaysian women have been banned from “tom-boyism” and lesbian sexual relations in a fatwa from one of the country’s top religious authorities. By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent Last Updated: 9:02AM BST 24 Oct 2008 According to the chairman of the […]
Islamic Finance News Portal – Bringing you the latest updates in global Shariah finance BIBF launches Master’s degree in Islamic finance Points of Essence: Bahrain based BIBF’s Centre for Islamic Finance will roll out its first Master’s degree with dual concentration in finance and Islamic finance in March next year. In collaboration with the De […]
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