WORLD - OPINION - Islamic venture capital: Key to knowledge-based economy

FAILURE is a mark of success in venture capital.
Today, Islamic venture capital is a feel good theory presented at conferences about the lofty goals of this niche market with the focus on the formalism of structuring and screening. Its impact investing, yet we see it as a cost (at best) and a write-off (at worst). (source)

MALAYSIA - Malaysia's Zarinah Anwar calls for greater GCC-Asian connectivity

LONDON: Zarinah Anwar, chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the securities and capital market regulator, has called on Middle Eastern and Asian countries to spearhead the further expansion of Islamic finance, which in the process would also deepen business and investment linkages between the two regions where the phenomenon is already being practiced on a significant scale. (source)

EVENTS - WIBC - Islamic finance dev't linked to broader economic agenda

BRUNEI'S Islamic finance strategy is linked to a broader economic agenda of "participating in enhanced intra-OIC (Organisation of the Islamic Conference) trade flows", said the Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) at a conference on Islamic banking in Singapore yesterday.

Giving a speech at the 2nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (Asia Summit) held at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Hj Mohd Rosli Hj Sabtu said, one major area being actively pursued by the Sultanate is in the manufacturing of halal products, "including food and pharmaceutical". (source)

EDUCATION - Islamic banking suffers from shortage of skilled professionals

Singapore - Islamic finance consistent with sharia law was poised to continue its growth, but the industry had to overcome a large dearth of skilled professionals and other challenges to succeed, banking experts warned Wednesday. 

'The fast growth of Islamic financial institutions so far isn't followed by sufficient supply of human resources,' Halim Alamsyah, deputy governor of Bank Indonesia, said in Singapore. (source)

SINGAPORE - Islamic finance to play a pivotal role in trade and investment flows (WIBC)

HE Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry Republic of Singapore & Deputy Chairman Monetary Authority of Singapore delivering the keynote address at WIBC Asia 2011

HE Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry Republic of Singapore & Deputy Chairman Monetary Authority of Singapore

The 2nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2011) opened today at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore. Though Islamic banking assets have grown significantly over the past few years, they still only represent less than one per cent of total global banking assets – with more than 50 per cent concentration in the Middle East region.

The two-day WIBC Asia event, held under the official support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, kicked off today with an inaugural address by HE Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry Republic of Singapore & Deputy Chairman Monetary Authority of Singapore. This was followed by an opening keynote session which featured HE Mohd Rosli Sabtu, Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD); HE Halim Alamsyah, Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia; and Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Chairman of Securities Commission Malaysia. (source)

SINGAPORE - Islamic Finance Moves Towards a New Era of Growing Global Connectivity

The 2nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit to gather more than 450 industry leaders for discussions on enhancing cross-border connectivity and driving growth of significant international transactions in Islamic finance

 Singapore - More than 450 key players and thought leaders in the global and regional Islamic finance industry will be gathering on the 8^th and 9^th of June 2011 in Singapore for the 2^nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit, which is convened with the support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. (source)

SPEECH - Speech by YBhg Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar Chairman, Securities Commission Malaysia at the Launch of Capital Market Masterplan 2 - April 12, 2011

Speech by

YBhg Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar
Chairman, Securities Commission Malaysia

at the

Launch of Capital Market Masterplan 2
12 April 2011
Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The launch of CMP2 is a significant milestone in the development of the capital market of Malaysia. It marks the successful implementation of the first Capital Market Masterplan where 95% of the 152 recommendations were completed. CMP1 has been a remarkably prescient document that continues to retain relevance even after a decade and has been used by many countries as a model plan for the development of their own capital markets. (full story)

FINANCE - MALAYSIA - Appointment of Members of The SAC Shariah Advisory Council Bank Negara Malaysia (Member from Indonesia)

Bank Negara Malaysia wishes to announce the new members of the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) for a period of three years, effective 1 November 2010. Pursuant to section [53] of the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009, the appointment of the SAC members was assented by the Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

ARTICLE - Cost Components as Predictors for the Profitability of Sharia Banks (Study on PT Bank Syariah Mandiri and PT. Bank Syariah Mega Indonesia)

Mokhamad Anwar - Cost Components as Predictors for the Profitability of Sharia Banks (Study on PT Bank Syariah Mandiri and PT. Bank Syariah Mega Indonesia) 

ARTICLE - Predicting Future Depositor`s Rate of Return Applying Neural Network: A Case-study of Indonesian Islamic Bank (Bank Muamalat)

Predicting Future Depositor`s Rate of Return Applying Neural Network: A Case-study of Indonesian Islamic Bank

in International Journal of Economics and Finance - Vol. 2, No. 3; August 2010

http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijef/article/viewFile/6827/5349

by Saiful Anwar - Department of Management and Information System Science, Nagaoka University of technology - 1603-1 Kamitomioka, Nagaoka, Niigata 940-2188, JAPAN

LAW - SHARIAH - CONTRACTS - Malaysia sets up committee to enhance its legal framework as `The laws of choice' for Islamic finance transactions

IN a move to position and strengthen its existing legal framework as ‘the Laws of Choice’ for Islamic financial transactions, Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, last week established a Law Harmonization Committee (LHC) comprising members from among key government stakeholders, including the Attorney General's Chambers as well as industry players and experienced Islamic finance legal practitioners.