INDONESIA - MUI - MUI Slaps Fatwas on Sale of Bank Notes, Fireworks

With Ramadan already into its second week, the Indonesian Council of Ulema has come out to declare two activities popular at this time of year forbidden: Paying to have money changed and the sale of fireworks.

Abdusshomad Buchori, head of the East Java chapter of the council, also known as the MUI, said the sale of small denominations or crisp new bank notes for profit was haram. (source)

FINANCE - Amanah Finance Changes Portfolio Target

JAKARTA (IFT) - PT Amanah Finance, an Islamic vehicle-financing company, adjusts its finance portfolio target this year from Rp 1.2 trillion to Rp 2.5 trillion. This will also cause a change in its net income target, said Adnan Bintang, Director of Amanah Finance. (full story - indonesia finance today)

BANKING - Bahrain's Baraka to buy Indonesian bank in 2011

Bahraini Islamic lender Al Baraka plans to buy an Indonesian bank this year for around $100m and has identified up to four possible options, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

"We sent in early February a delegation...to follow up on our expansion plans in Indonesia. I think the Indonesian market is a good market," Adnan Yousif said.

"We want to buy a bank. We have looked into several options and now we have three or four banks that we are eyeing, from which we will buy one bank."

"It is a classical bank and we will turn it into an Islamic bank. Our budget for that is around $100m...it will be [finalised] in the third quarter of this year," Yousif said. (full story)

BANKING - Shariah Experts Push for Scholar Certificates: Islamic Finance

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Leading Islamic finance scholars are preparing the first global certification for Shariah experts, seeking to bolster the industry’s reputation and make it easier for banks to find qualified advisers.

The International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance in Kuala Lumpur will pick a board of regulators by year- end to issue permits for scholars qualified to sit on Shariah boards, said Aznan Hasan, the president of the oversight committee. The scholars decide whether financial products meet the religion’s precepts, including a ban on interest payments.