Global news and insight for corporate financial professionals
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.
FINANCE & CAPITAL | TRENDS: Islamic Finance
ANNUAL AWARDS: BEST ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 2014
Islamic finance is going mainstream, with new banks opening and new regulatory endeavors under way in this dynamic global mar
MIDDLE EAST 2014 SUPPLEMENT By Gordon Platt Islamic finance is going mainstream, with Western countries planning to issue their first sovereign sukuk. It still constitutes only a small percentage of total global financial assets, and most activity is ...
MILESTONES By Gilly Wright By awarding HSBC and Linklaters as external advisers, the UK government is a little closer to its widely anticipated issue of a sovereign sukuk, or Islamic bond. Last October in London during the World Islamic Economic ...
SPECIAL REPORT By Andrew Cunningham Al Rajhi tops the rankings of Safest Islamic Banks in the GCC. The use of Islamic finance arouses strong emotions. For its supporters, it offers an ethical way of conducting financial transactions that is far ...
On October 29, a little piece of history was made when the UK finally announced it would become the first Western country to issue a sovereign sukuk, or Islamic bond.
SPECIAL REPORT: ISLAMIC TRADE FINANCE By Anita Hawser Islamic trade finance is of increasing interest, but whether it will be successful depends on market forces. “Shariah-compliant trade finance is an ancient tradition with a long history of supporting economic activity ...
REGIONAL SUPERSECTION — STEPPING UP THE COMPETITION By Gordon Platt Does the Gulf Cooperation Council need yet another international financial center? Oil-rich Abu Dhabi thinks it does. The United Arab Emirates is about to open its second ...
REGIONAL SUPERSECTION The six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—have a common need to adjust to a changing global oil market as a result of the surge in US oil ...
REGIONAL SUPERSECTION — SEEKING A NEW MODEL By Anita Hawser As the infrastructure boom continues, it may be time for GCC countries to reevaluate how they select and fund new projects. “Abu Dhabi cannot rely solely on ...
STEALING THE SHOW By Gordon Platt Middle East banks say they are catching up to the global transaction banks, and in some cases winning greater market share by delivering solutions that meet the specific needs of companies doing business ...
World’s Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2013: Country Winners Algeria Banque Al Baraka D’Algérie Bahrain Al Baraka Islamic Bank Bahrain Bangladesh Islamic Bank Bangladesh Brunei Darussalam Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam Egypt Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt Indonesia Bank Muamalat Indonesia Jordan ...
WAITING FOR THE RENAISSANCE By Gordon Platt Egypt’s elections promised much in terms of building a modern and democratic state. But the realities of governing for the Muslim Brotherhood are proving more difficult than initially thought—and some economic ...
A DEFINING MOMENT By Anita Hawser Global Finance presents the winners of its awards for the World’s Best Islamic Financial Insititutions 2013. With Islamic banking assets predicted to pass the $1.1 trillion mark in 2012 and Islamic ...
World’s Best Islamic Financial Institutions: Global Winners Best Sukuk Bank HSBC Best Islamic Retail Bank Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Best Islamic Investment Bank Samba Best Takaful (Insurance) Provider Etiqa Takaful Berhad Best Asset Management Company CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management ...
World’s Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2013: Regional Winners Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Al Rajhi Bank Non-GCC Middle East/Africa Al Baraka Bank Asia Maybank Islamic Berhad Europe Bank of London and the Middle East GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL Al Rajhi Bank According ...
MILESTONES: IRAQ By Gordon Platt The five largest nongovernmental banks in Iraq posted a 207% increase in aggregate earnings between 2010 and 2012, thanks to the country’s strong economic growth and increasing demand for credit, according to a report on ...
BRIGHT STARS By Thomas Clouse, Jonathan Gregson, Antonio Guerrero & Gordon Platt Following a year that included some of the biggest scandals in banking history—the London Whale, the Libor rate-fixing scandal, widespread money laundering, insider trading, rogue trading and ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: CORPORATE DEBT By Gordon Platt A series of three major sukuk issues in Saudi Arabia in the first week of April demonstrated the growing depth of the debt capital markets in the kingdom, where corporations are ...