CHINA - INDEX - Component Changes Made to Dow Jones Islamic Market China/Hong Kong Titans 30 Index

www.marketwatch.com -LONDON, Jun 5, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that Hong Kong's Alibaba.com Limited will be removed from the Dow Jones Islamic Market China/Hong Kong Titans 30 Index due to its acquisition by Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

Alibaba.com Limited will be replaced by Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Limited. Headquartered in Shenyang, China, Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. is engaged in manufacture and sale of minibuses and automotive components.

The changes in the Dow Jones Islamic Market China/Hong Kong Titans 30 Index will be effective as of the open of trading on Friday, June 8, 2012. (source)

CHINA - BANKING - Alkhair International Islamic Bank eyes opportunities in Shanghai and Great Eastern Takaful looking Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and China

www.cpifinancial.net - The bank’s Chairman, Datuk Kamaruddin Taib, revealed to Islamic Business & Finance that he will be flying to Shanghai tomorrow (1 June) to take a closer look at a prospect in China’s most populous city. (source)

INDONESIA - TAKAFUL - Great Eastern Takaful eyes top 3 spot in Indonesia

thesundaily.com.my - KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28, 2011): Great Eastern Takaful Sdn Bhd (GE Takaful) has unveiled a plan to become one of Indonesia's top three takaful players in three to five years, by introducing affordable takaful plans and leveraging on its bancatakaful distribution partnership with Bank OCBC NISP there.

Its CEO Mohamad Salihuddin Ahmad said the company will venture into the republic next year, initially in Java and Sumatera. It will then enter other areas such as Kalimantan and Sulawesi.  (source)

WORLD - HALAL - China eyes bigger share in halal food market

todayszaman.com - In north-central China's autonomous region of Ningxia, where 2.2 million Chinese Hui Muslims live, the halal food industry is rapidly developing to cater to the needs of Muslims in China with a keen interest to increase China's share in the world's $150 billion halal food market. (source)

INDONESIA - HALAL - MUI remains alert amid China’s barrage of halal products

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has confirmed a dramatic rise in the number of halal food products coming in from China, but remained skeptical over that country’s developing halal industry.

“The number of halal products from China has increased by 50 to 100 percent since last year,” the MUI’s Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM) chief Lukmanul Hakim told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Emirates NBD plans to expand in Asia Pacific (Indonesia on the list)

KHALEEJTIMES.COM - DUBAI — Emirates NBD, the largest bank by assets in the UAE, is considering opening representative offices in China and a number of Asia Pacific countries and expanding its Islamic banking operations in the region, joining an increasing number of Middle Eastern lenders seeking a larger presence in some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, a senior 
executive said.  (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Malaysia Delays Issue in Offshore Yuan Bond Market

WSJ WALL STREET JOURNAL  - HONG KONG—The Malaysian government's investment holding arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd., which is looking to issue as much as $78.3 million in yuan-denominated Islamic trust certificates, or sukuk, postpone the pricing of the bond due to volatile market conditions, people familiar with the situation said Thursday. (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Malaysia Looks to Offshore Yuan Bond Market

WSJ Wall Street Journal - HONG KONG—The Malaysian government's investment holding arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd., which is looking to issue as much as $78.3 million in yuan-denominated Islamic trust certificates, or sukuk, will not price the bond Thursday due to volatile market conditions, people familiar with the situation said Thursday.

The planned bond issuance, which could make it the first quasi-sovereign Asian entity to tap the burgeoning yuan market outside of China, will have to wait until market conditions improve, the people said.(source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - First Gulf Bank plans four Asia offices to boost financing role - private banking top priority - not concrete plans for Islamic banking yet - Indonesia on the list

Singapore: Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank (FGB) plans to set up four more representative branches in southeast Asia in a push to play a bigger role in financing energy and commodities projects in the fast-growing region, the head of the lender's Singapore office said. (source)

MALAYSIA - BANKING - Japanese Mizuho asks Malaysia permission to develop Islamic bank

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUALA LUMPUR - Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the third largest bank in Japan, admitted asking the Malaysian government permission to develop service the shari'a in the neighboring state. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Director of Mizuho Financial Planning Hiroyuki Yoshinari speak this step is over the opening of branches of Mizuho Malaysia on Monday (5 / 9) ago.

"We have already submitted an application to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and awaiting approval," he said as reported by The Sun Daily Malaysia. BNM optimistic his side will soon issue a permit erection of this syariah unit. (source)

MALAYSIA - TAKAFUL - Takaful Ehsan looks beyond Malaysia - also Indonesia

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/ehsan11/Article/index_html

KUALA LUMPUR: ING Public Takaful Ehsan Bhd has set its sights on penetrating the overseas takaful market by 2015, said its top executive.

The Islamic insurance operator plans to leverage on its shareholders, ING and Public Bank, which has presence in several global market such as India, China, Indonesia and Indochina.

"A significant strategy of Takaful Ehsan is to embark on a global market penetration strategy after three years in operation," chief executive Saiful Yazan Ahmad told Business Times in a recent interview. (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Public Bank To Launch Three New Funds

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Public Bank will be launching three news funds on Tuesday, namely PB Asia Emerging Growth Fund, PB Bond Fund and PB Sukuk Fund, which will be managed by its wholly owned subsidiary, Public Mutual.

Public Mutual's Chief Executive Officer Yeoh Kim Hong, in a statement today, said the growth prospects for Asia were supported by resilient consumption expenditure amid sustained income levels, rising urbanisation rates and favourable demographic trends. (source)

BRUNEI - BANKING - Maybank Islamic eyes ties with Brunei banks

MAYBANK Islamic plans to explore collaborations with banks in Brunei, Middle East, Hong Kong and China in a bid to promote Islamic finance.

Maybank Islamic yesterday said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia's Bank Syariah Mandiri to establish cross-border collaboration in all Islamic treasury and trade finance matters.

Maybank Islamic said the collaboration would set the terms of cooperation between the two institutions in relation to enhancing cross-border liquidity flows and, as well as, increasing and diversifying the application of Islamic financial solutions. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Maybank Islamic Signs MoU With Bank Syariah Mandiri

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 (Bernama) -- Maybank Islamic (MI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM), Indonesia, to establish cross border collaboration in all Islamic treasury and trade finance matters.

In a statement here Tuesday, MI said the collaboration would set the terms of cooperation between the two institutions in relation to enhancing cross-border liquidity flows and, as well as, increasing and diversifying the application of Islamic financial solutions. (source)

ARTICLE - The Emergence of Asia’s Islamic Finance Industry

By Mercy Kuo, PhD - Islamic finance is rooted in Shariah law, which prohibits interest-based financial transactions, gambling high-risk speculation, and financing any form of economic activity that can be considered detrimental to society. The industry’s modern-day evolution, beginning in the 1970s to the present day, was still considered an infant industry at the turn of the 21st century. (source)

CHINA - First Islamic hotel to be set up in China

The first Islamic hotel will be set up under the supervision of the UAE Lootah Group in Ningxia Province, China.

According to Al-Bayan newspaper, Hani Lashin, General Manager at Al Jawhara Hotels affiliated to Lootah Group said: “the Islamic hotel will be established as a part of the construction project of the World Muslim City in this province which will have five more hotels.” (source)

THAILAND - Islamic Bank sees market potential in Upper South

The Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBank) plans to expand its financial services to the upper southern provinces to support Muslim communities affected by recent flooding, according to president Dheerasak Suwannayos.

The bank will focus on Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung and Trang provinces for its business expansion, which is scheduled for the second quarter this year after the flooding eases. (full story)

BANKING - Bank Indonesia hosts IIFM's 23rd Board Meeting & Industry Seminar

Jakarta, Indonesia - 23 December, 2010 - The 23^rd Board of Directors meeting of the IIFM was hosted last week by Bank Indonesia at their offices in Jakarta. The meeting was attended by senior representatives from Bank Indonesia, Central Bank of Bahrain, , Labuan Financial Services Authority (Malaysia), Ministry of Finance (Brunei Darussalam), Islamic Development Bank, State Bank of Pakistan, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, Credit Agricole CIB, Standard Chartered Saadiq and the National Bank of Kuwait (Bahrain).

BANKING - AFFIN Bank - China will be the first Islamic bank - Indonesia Bank Ina Perdana

Malaysian company Affin Holdings Bhd and Bank of Hong Kong The Bank of East Asia Ltd (BEA) suggested that the Chinese management of the Banking (CBRA) to open China’s first Islamic bank. This was announced on Thursday the chairman and chief executive officer, BEA David KR Lee. 

«Currently CBRA still continues to learn the rules and regulations of Islamic finance. We hope that will become the first Islamic bank in China as soon as the authorities will understand regulatory requirements, “- said director of BEA.