Month: August 2009

Istisna (Manufacturing Contracts) in Islamic Banking and Finance (Law & Practice)

Editor Books and Magazine

Author: Muhammad al-Bashir Muhammad Al-Amine

Muhammad al-Bashir is a Shari’ah (LLB) graduate from the Islamic University of Madinah He obtained his Master of Comparative Laws from the International Islamic University of Malaysia and he is currently in his final year of his PhD research at the faculty of laws-IIUM. He has also authored several articles published in some International journals.

Publisher: A S Noordeen (Malaysia)

ISBN: 9830651177

about the book
The present book is an extensive and critical analysis of this contract from the classical source of Islamic law and the practice of contemporary Islamic financial institutions. Its addresses the nature of this contract, its conditions, the general and specific argument for the legality of this contract, its binding character and the seller’s stipulation to preclude his liability from any defect in the manufactured commodity. Furthermore, it expounds the issue over the liquidated damages and its relation with Istisna, the doctrine of change of circumstances and its implications and arbitration as dispute resolution in Istisna. Finally, it elaborates the practical aspects of Istisna especially its role in economic development, areas of its applications, the criteria of project evaluation, security and risk management, insurance and the legal status of the consultant agent pertaining to Istisna.

Economic Liberalisation, Social Capital and Islamic Welfare Provision

Editor Books and Magazine

This book looks at two aspects of Islamic activity in the Middle East and North Africa, the development of social capital and the provision of welfare services, within the context of economic liberalization programs to see whether the retrenchment of the state under liberalisation has created a space for Islamic-based activities.

AUTHOR : Jane T. Harrigan, Hamid El-said
ISBN: 9780230202191

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Nigerian Islamic Banking Market hits 28b USD

Editor Africa, Banking

The managing director of Jaiz International Plc Alhaji Mohammed Bintube has said that Islamic banking market in Nigeria has grown to N4.35 trillion (US$ 27.7 billion).

Bintube who was one of the speakers at the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA)second innovation forum entitled: “Increasing Access to Finance through Islamic (Non – interest) Banking held in Abuja on Wednesday said with challenges facing Islamic finance in Nigeria, the banking market size is estimated at N4.35 trillion as at December 2008.

EFInA, an independent professional, non-profit organisation conceived and funded by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), Ford Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was set up to promote financial development in Nigeria, hosted its second innovation forum titled: “Increasing Access to Finance through Islamic (Non – interest) Banking, at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

According to the chief executive officer, EFInA Modupe Ladipo, the result from EFInA’s Access to Finance 2008 Survey showed that 68 million Nigerians representing 79 per cent of the adult population are unbanked.

The survey, she said also highlighted that 92 per cent and 86 per cent of the adult population in the Northwest and Northeast geo political zones respectively is unbanked.

Ladipo said in the light of the findings, Islamic finance was considered as a potential innovative approach to increase access to finance for the unbanked.

“Islamic banking is very topical both globally and locally. Globally, it is being discussed as innovative, profitable and ethical in light of the global financial crisis, especially due to volatile interest rates. In Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, it has created access to finance. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently released the draft framework for Non – Interest banking, which was in response to the growing interest by investors and banks to establish non – interest banks and it’s one of the FSS 2020 initiative, which seeks to make Nigeria one of the top 20 economies by the year 2020.

Other international guest speakers were Mr. Omar Shaikh and Mr. Safter Sarwar from Islamic Finance Council, UK, a not for profit organisation established to promote the Islamic finance industry both locally and globally. Mr Shaikh and Mr. Sarwar shared their views on the state of the global Islamic Finance Industry, and highlighted that the industry is worth approximately one trillion dollars and growing between 15 per cent and 20 per cent per annum.

Commenting on the surge of the Islamic Finance, the D-8 Secretary General, Dipo Alam, says that the D-8 member countries should focus more on developments in this sector, such as Syari’ah Banking system, and Islamic Bonds, since they have growned to be a powerful tool in the financial world that even Western, non-Islamic banks are starting to eye for a share on this financial system and plans to assign London as the center for Syari’ah Banks, and Islamic Bonds.

“So we should be rolling up our sleeves, and start to work on this issue to keep pace with the world”, he says. D-8 has an approximately 900 million population with large moslem majority, and is supposed to be also a major actor in this Islamic financial system.

source : Dtrust

France to promote Islamic finance

Editor Europe, Islamic Finance , ,

pFrench economy minister wants to promote Islamic finance to attract Gulf-based investment which is currently flowing to London.

PARIS – The French government, anxious to attract some of the Gulf-based investment currently flowing to London, is promoting Islamic finance, offering it a more accommodating legal and fiscal framework in France.

Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, recently addressing Gulf investors, pledged to take steps “to make (their) activities as welcome in Paris as they are in London and elsewhere.”

Analyst Emmanuel Volland of the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s noted that this was “the first time that a representative of the state has said publicly that she is favourable to the development of Islamic finance.

“It’s a strong signal and the players are listening.”

But at another agency, Moody’s, Anwar Hassan, cautioned that government pronouncements “are not in themselves sufficient to ensure the blossoming of Islamic finance here”.

He said the government should not be content simply to reduce “legal or fiscal irritants” but should – for example – issue Islamic bonds, known as “sukuks,” as Britain plans to do next year.

The challenge is also not purely technical or limited to establishing an infrastructure receptive to Islamic finance, he said, adding that convincing the French public of the soundness of such investments would be the real test.

The task, he argued, was to show that they are “an ethical, modern finance alternative.”

Islamic law proscribes the paying of interest for a service as well as speculation, and prohibits investment in sectors such as pornography, gambling, weaponry, alcohol or pork products.

Hassan warned too that investors in the Gulf or Malaysia might see France’s current interest as simply trying to “make sure that some of the oil wealth gets recycled in France.”

Islamic finance, a market estimated to be worth USD 700 billion (EUR 441 billion), does exist to some extent in France already.

The leading Gulf investment funds, Gulf Finance House, Qatar Islamic Bank, Barwa Real Estate or Quinvest, currently have offices in the Paris suburbs.

Hassan noted that the establishment of an investment fund, compatible with Islamic law, in the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion by the bank Societe Generale “could attract savings from French Muslims.”

Societe Generale has said it has no plans to set up a comparable operation in metropolitan France.

Eventually the offer of Islamic bonds could provide an alterative to French companies currently penalised by increasingly costly bank credit.

For the moment, however, France does not offer Islamic banking services, despite having the largest Muslim community in western Europe.

In Britain, the Islamic Bank of Britain was launched in 2004, the first such institution in Europe. About 20 traditional banks in Britain also offer Islamic banking services.

But Mohamed Damak of Standard and Poor’s cautioned that the profile of the Muslim community in France is different from that of Britain.

“It seems to favour the transparency of conventional banking,” he said, adding that it was “simplistic to think that because there are twice as many Muslims in France as in Britain, that the demand is going to be the same.”

source : Expatica

DSI on Shariah compliant list

Editor Middle East

Drake & Scull International (DSI) PJSC is now on the list of Shariah compliant companies.

Khaled Jarrar, Chief Financial Officer of DSIDSI, said that this move is very important to the company and its relationships with investors.

“We have taken necessary action to ensure that DSIDSI observes these fundamental values that are important to ourselves and our investors.” DSIDSI listed on DFM on March 16, 2009, and is the only specialist contractor listed on the bourse.

source :QMP

Push for Islamic financial rescue

Editor Australia, Islamic Finance

australia islamic financeTHE newest federal cabinet minister, Chris Bowen, has set out an ambitious plan for Sydney to lure Islamic finance in a quest to beat the global recession and attract wealth and jobs.

In an interview with the Herald, the big winner from Kevin Rudd’s ministerial reshuffle at the weekend also expressed concern about the conflicts of interest surrounding commission-based superannuation advice. He said that in an ideal world the compulsory employer super levy should rise from 9 to 15 per cent.

NSW MPs were the big winners from the shake-up caused by the forced resignation of Joel Fitzgibbon as defence minister and the snap retirement of Bob Debus as minister for home affairs.

Mr Bowen, 36, becomes the youngest member of the 20-strong cabinet, winning the dual post of Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, and Minister for Human Services.

After less than a year in Parliament, the NSW Senator Mark Arbib becomes the Minister for Employment Participation and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Government Service Delivery, while Greg Combet becomes a minister with the odd combination of junior defence and climate change.

The new ministry will be sworn in tomorrow and the new Defence Minister, NSW Senator John Faulkner, will immediately head overseas for three days of NATO talks in Brussels about Australia’s role in Afghanistan.

Mr Bowen said Sydney was under-selling itself as a financial services hub for Asia. “I think there’s great opportunities such as Islamic finance,” he said. “The majority of the world’s Islamic population lives in Asia, and Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are trying to corner this market for themselves and I think Australia can play a role. Even if we only take a small percentage of the market it could generate a lot of wealth and a lot of jobs in Australia.”

Mr Bowen said Islamic finance investors were not allowed to earn interest but could make a profit. They also did not invest in alcohol, gambling or weapons.

“You couldn’t put your money into a normal interest-bearing account but there are plenty of products designed in such a way to make those investments.

“This is just one example of the untapped opportunities out there for Australia. We are very good at managing money, and in superannuation we have the fourth-largest pool of funds under management in the world. We’ve developed really good skills but we don’t export those skills.”

Mr Bowen, who was formerly the assistant treasurer, said he had concerns about the commission-based system where financial advisers earn their money from the products they recommend to customers.

“Where you have the issue of commissions you are always going to bring into question the genuineness of the advice. There’s always going to be a perceived conflict, if not a real conflict,” he said. “I think either way it’s better to avoid that conflict. I do think commissions are problematic.”

Asked whether the 9 per cent compulsory superannuation payment by employers should rise to 15 per cent, Mr Bowen said it might not be enough to give people an adequate retirement income.

“In an ideal world, yes, of course, 15 would be more attractive than nine but it is a very difficult environment to raise it to 15 now,” he said.

source : smh