Islamic Finance

QIB controls 43.5% of the Islamic banking market share in Qatar and 11.5% of the overall market and says that the long-term growth prospects remain promising.

Still finding its way onto the broader global stage, Islamic finance is expanding its reach and rising to new heights in delivering added value to consumer and business markets alike.

Still finding its way onto the broader global stage, Islamic finance is expanding its reach and rising to new heights in delivering added value to consumer and business markets alike.

Maybank Islamic is developing outside Malaysia, establishing a footprint in the region. With a return on equity of 16%, achieved despite a capital ratio of 17%, the trick will be to sustain the bank’s bullish approach to investing despite the country’s economic downturn.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ is learning to speak Arabic.

By any measure QNB has major ambitions. It is the largest bank in Qatar and one of the leading financial institutions in the Middle East and Africa. It does not stop there. QNB has set its sights on becoming a global bank by 2030. QNB’s group chief executive discusses with Global Finance the regional downturn, success in Africa and its plans for a global presence.

Changing fortunes in the region’s oil-rich economies have made the secretive world of sovereign wealth fund asset allocation even more opaque. 

Saudi bank Al Rajhi retains its crown in this year’s rankings.

Islamic Finance | Bank Negara’s decision to halt issuing shariah-compliant bonds has left a big hole in the Islamic debt market. Filling the void will take time.

Winners List

Country Report | Turkey - Islamic Finance
Officials in Turkey have long declared their intentions to transform Istanbul into an international financial center. Islamic finance could be the key to making that goal a reality.

Trends | Islamic Finance
Islamic finance has seen tremendous growth over the past few decades.

Islamic Finance
Development in the Middle East, and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in particular, is being fueled by the growth of Islamic finance.

Global Finance’s first annual list of Who’s Who in The Middle East.     

Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds are notoriously secretive in terms of their investments and strategy. So what will they do in response to the oil price drop? 

Market Focus | Middle East Investment Banking
Although investment bankers remain cautious about Middle Eastern prospects in the wake of falling oil prices, M&A activity and debt issuance remain bright spots.

Saudi Arabia | Banking Sector
Highly capitalized and boasting healthy margins, Saudi banks are unlikely to feel much fallout from the country’s slowing economy and the impact of low oil prices.

Market Report | Islamic Finance
New structures and issuers and greater standardization are pushing issuance in the global sukuk market.

MARKET REPORT | ISLAMIC TRADE FINANCE
Offering inventory financing to commodity traders brings much-needed liquidity to the Islamic trade finance market.

CAPITAL MARKETS | ISLAMIC FINANCE
To diversify its sources of financing, Goldman Sachs plans to issue a benchmark Islamic bond, at a time when demand for sukuk is outrunning supply. Meanwhile, South Africa is planning its first sovereign sukuk, and the Egyptian government is working on a new sukuk law, following the military’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year.