Islamic Finance

Middle East Lebanon’s banks are spreading their wings as they push for more growth in the Middle East’s key markets.   Banks in downtown Beirut: Lebanon's financial institutions are expanding through the region. While the banking sector remains the backbone ...

SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS Sovereign wealth funds snap up bargains in one of the biggest financial industry land grabs in history.   Bader Al Sa'ad, head of Kuwait's SWF, helped arrange a huge cash infusion for Citi. To say Citi and ...

UNITED KINGDOM   While many Western banks may be struggling with liquidity and funding issues, Middle Eastern banks, awash with liquidity, are increasingly making their presence felt in Western financial markets. One such bank is Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), whose ...

SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS With sovereign wealth funds rapidly becoming one of the most powerful forces in global finance, one key question has emerged: Should they be feared or revered? With the subprime-induced credit crunch causing stocks of financial giants such ...

ISLAMIC INVESTMENT BANKING Investor demand, banks’ creativity and deep pools of liquidity in the Middle East are driving strong growth in the development of Islamic investment banking products.     Hassoune:“Investors and entrepreneurs must  hare the risks and rewards of ...

QATAR     The only way is up: QFC moves to new, gleaming headquarters.   Rich in natural gas, the Gulf nation of Qatar has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with increasing demand for financial products and ...

JAPAN     Toyota: Top holding in new ETF.   Tokyo-based Daiwa Asset Management will create an exchange-traded fund based on the newly formed FTSE Shariah Japan 100 index. The ETF, which will be listed on the Singapore Exchange in ...

GLOBAL     High aspirations: Islamic finance on the rise. Excess liquidity and the tidal wave of petrodollars flooding into the Middle East are causing a surge of interest in Islamic finance. The growth rate of the industry is now ...

Regional Report / Gcc     Shariah structures and returns are appealing to a growing range of international investors.   Dubai boasts the biggest exchange in the world for sukuk listings Islamic finance was designed for Muslim investors who want ...

Regional Report / Gcc   Competition for talent in the banking industry is driving up costs as demand for financial services expands.     El-Labban: Talent is more likely to join or stay on at a growing bank   As ...

Regional Report / Gcc   High oil prices keep the ball rolling, as the Gulf region’s economic growth momentum carries it through a rough patch in the stock markets.         Kingdom Tower Riyadh: As capital spending rises, ...

A modern form of Islamic trade financing has taken root and is flourishing in the Middle East With its ancient caravan trails winding through the desert sands of Arabia, the Middle East is a fabled trade entrepôt between Europe and ...

Rania Nashar, CEO of Samba Financial Group, is the first female CEO of a listed commercial bank in Saudi Arabia. She talks about modernization in the kingdom and at the bank, as well as Samba’s role in supporting the reinvention of the national economy.