Standard & Poors Predicts Steady Growth in Islamic Bond Market
In a report published last week, Standard & Poors predicted steady growth in Islamic bond issuance in 2010, with about $20 billion of Sukuk publicly announced in the past likely to come to market if conditions permit. “In addition, we understand from unofficial market sources that about $10 billion more could potentially enter the pipeline. […]
The Shariah-Compliant Finance sector has been affected by the downturn in the global economy. Asset growth slowed in 2009 according to the Islamic finance report from International Financial Services London (IFSL), an independent organization. http://www.hedgefundsreview.com/hedge-funds-review/news/1588694/islamic-finance-market-growth-faced-slow-2009? This is more evidence that runs counter to the propaganda from the Shariah Finance industry claiming immunity from the economic […]
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the Corporate Family (CFR) and Probability of Default Ratings (PDR) of Kuwait-based National Industries Group Holding S.A.K. (NIG) and the debt ratings on the USD 475 million sukuk issued by NIG Sukuk Limited to B1 from Ba3. These sukuk are basically “junk Islamic bonds.” So much for the idea that […]
Palisades Park Capital, a new Los Angeles-based hedge fund firm, has unveiled a new hedge fund, a Shariah-compliant vehicle called Palisades Park Multi-Strategy Fund. Interestingly, Palisades Park Capital has no web site and the firm is not listed in any online or Los Angeles-area telephone directory… http://www.hedgefund.net/publicnews/default.aspx?story=10801
Thailand Close to Debut Sukuk Issue
Shariah continues to gain a financial foothold in Thailand…Sukuk to make debut despite shabby global track record… http://www.cibafi.org/newscenter/english/Details.aspx?Id=6489&Cat=0
In the civilized world, this would be referred to as a “default.” But in the world of Shariah, it’s simply called a “standstill.” Creditors have little choice but to go along with the swindle that Dubai has perpetrated on them. Sooner or later, maybe Western financiers will discover that all of the added but often […]
Money Fleeing Malaysia
Here on Shariah Finance Watch we have documented that Malaysia is ground zero in the Pacific Rim for Shariah Finance: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/category/malaysia/ Almost all of the financial news out of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur over the past year has been centered around “Islamic” finance and banking. The country’s prime minister and other cabinet members […]
Thailand plans Sukuk debut
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission expects to finalize rules for Sukuk instruments (Islamic bonds) some time over the next several months, the local English daily Bangkok Post reported on Tuesday. Authorities hope that Islamic bonds will help draw capital from the cash-rich Middle East and other markets. Thai authorities should be careful what they wish […]
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 […]
10 Sukuk Defaults at Year-End 2009
While it has received virtually zero coverage in the Western financial media, by researching Islamic blogs, we have come across a very interesting piece of information: there were 10 sukuk (Islamic bond) defaults at the end of 2009. We all know about the Dubai sukuk default, but there were evidently several others, including one involving […]
Dubai in retrospect: Don’t Blame Shariah!
The Dubai World default on sukuk, also known as “Islamic bonds,” was centered on financial products which were approved by Shariah scholars. Making investments Shariah-Compliant was supposed to protect investors from crisis and calamity. We heard and read such claims from financial jihadists over and over again after the Subprime collapse. But Shariah-Compliance not only […]
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 […]
From time to time, readers will email us asking for a list of Shariah-Compliant companies. A complete version of such a list is extremely difficult to come by. Some of the better sources for such a listing would be the annual and semi-annual reports of the various Shariah-Compliant investment funds. These reports usually include portfolio […]
Westlaw Joins the Financial Jihad
Westlaw Business, part of Thomson Reuters, and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) today announced their agreement to provide current standards and other Islamic finance industry information for global business law professionals within the Westlaw Business Islamic Finance Center. Does Westlaw know who they are getting in bed with? Are they […]
BBC: Islamic Finance is a Dishonest Business Run by Dishonest People
The BBC has published an article by Mr. John Foster, who used to be editor of “Islamic Business & Finance” magazine. The topic of the article is described by its title: “How Sharia-Compliant is Islamic Banking?” But it is not really the topic which makes the article interesting. It is the details which make it […]
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 […]
Shariah finance suffers growing pains
The Financial Times actually wrote a fairly balanced story on Shariah finance for a change. In the story linked below, FT’s journalist points out that Shariah-compliant financial institutions have proven just as vulnerable to the economic downturn and financial crisis as conventional counterparts. This, of course, flies right in the face of the propaganda being […]
From a Financial Times Report: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ec1abb4-e2be-11de-b028-00144feab49a,dwp_uuid=aee0503e-e09e-11de-9f58-00144feab49a.html? Islamic finance might have been created by and for devout Muslim bankers and clerics, but big international banks have increasingly become the driving force behind the industry. Final approval is still reserved for the boards of shariah scholars that all Islamic banks require to give them credibility, but services […]
Western insurers seem all too eager to join the financial jihad by jumping in with both feet to offer “takaful,” or Shariah-Compliant insurance. Among the Western insurers who are moving into this area are: • HSBC • Swiss Re • Allianz • Prudential • Aviva • Munich Re • AIG Note that as recently as […]
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 […]
Just a few days ago, the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA) was proclaiming that Islamic banking was thriving in Lebanon. It appears that all is not actually so great in Lebanon when it comes to Islamic finance, but we won’t hold our breath waiting for KUNA to report this story. It seems Hezbollah has gotten its […]
The Banker points out problems with Shariah Finance
The British publication “The Banker” has mostly been a cheerleader for Shariah Finance for several years and they have written an article which, while viewing Shariah Finance in a positive light, also points out some of its serious flaws: • “Greed and selfishness” exist in Shariah Finance just as they do in conventional finance. This […]
IFSB to the Rescue!
The Islamic Financial Services Board is taking action that is being hailed as a positive move to “enhance the stability” of the Shariah Finance industry. We are underwhelmed. Back on November 5th we posted about this so-called respected organization (the IFSB), but it deserves repeating here: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/category/islamic-financial-services-board/ If you like Jihad and terrorism, you’ll LOVE […]
More Trouble for Tawarruq Financing
Tawarruq financing is a concoction designed to give Shariah-observant businesses access to modern, mainstream financing. We touched on this briefly back in July when a controversy developed surrounding tawarruq: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/2009/07/24/shariah-authorities-disagree-over-tawarruq-financing/ It seems that some Shariah scholars believe that tawarruq is haram because it has deceptive elements and elements of interest included. (The reality is that […]
Malaysian Islamic reinsurer MNRB Retakaful forecasts that revenue from its overseas operations will exceed that of domestic operations in five years. It particularly has its sights set on Indonesia, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Spreading Shariah insurance to these countries is perhaps not as much of a concern since each is already predominantly Islamic, but one […]
U.S. taxpayers funding terrorism: the ties that blind
What would you think if it was proven beyond doubt your tax money is getting into the hands of terrorists, not altogether accidentally? How would you feel if you discovered that the dollar you paid in income tax had been channeled by the federal government through a bank bailout law to Citigroup which then ‘invested’ in […]
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