Turkey and the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) have been identified as having the most Islamic Finance-friendly tax systems out of eight countries in the MENA region, according to a recent study supported by the International Tax and Investment Centre (ITIS) and the QFC.
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Bahrain's takaful sector grew 24% to BHD41.9 million (US$111.2 million) by the end of September 2012, outpacing that of the overall insurance sector.
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Islamic Financial Services Board's (IFSB's) rules and regulations should be made mandatory to bring the industry to the next level, said Bahrain's Central Bank Executive Director-Banking Supervision, Mr Khalid Hamad.
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Islamic financial institutions in Kuwait should hire enough personnel to ensure they comply with Shariah standards, and work with the personnel in a transparent way, said the country's financial regulator.
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The risk-based capital (RBC) framework that has been implemented for Malaysia's takaful sector is a "necessary medicine" for healthy growth in the future, said Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) Chairman Zainudin Ishak.
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Malaysia's AmBank Group aims to sell stakes in both its Islamic and conventional insurance arms by June this year, said Managing Director Ashok Ramamurthy in a recent interview with Bloomberg.
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The retail sukuk issued to fund part of the construction of Malaysia's mass rapid transit has been oversubscribed 0.61 times, representing MYR484.3 million (US$156.5 million) in value from a total of 1,424 applications for the MYR300 million sukuk offering
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The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) insured exports and investments of US$3,074 million in 2012, a slight decrease from the $3.2 billion recorded in the previous year.
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Saudi authorities evacuated a total of 659 families living in four neighborhoods in Tabuk city in the northwestern region of the country, due to floods resulting from heavy rains that lasted for three days last month, according to local reports.
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Saudi Re posted a net profit of SAR8.98 million (US$2.67 million) after zakat and tax for the year ended 31 December 2012, compared to a net loss of SAR54.42 million in 2011, boosted by a surge in net earned premiums by 190% as well as a 47% increase in the shareholders' investment portfolio.
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Al Rajhi Takaful's net profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 dropped by more than half to SAR3.2 million (US$850,000) from the same period in 2011, on an 81.8% increase in claims to SAR81.4 million. However, it managed to post a 15.8% rise in gross contributions to SAR150.1 million.
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Dubai is preparing to develop an Islamic-compliant standard to clearly differentiate registered businesses, in line with the initiatives announced by Prime Minister Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum last month to make the Emirate a global capital for the Islamic economy.
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