Islamic Finance and Economics

Indonesia Plans Sharia Fund for Islamic Pilgrimage

August 07, 2017

The Government of Indonesia is expanding its global footprint in sharia-compliant finance and its profile as the country with the world's biggest mostly Muslim population with the establishment of a Haj Fund Management Agency (BPKH) aiming to manage the world's largest fund to support Islamic pilgrimages to the Saudi city of Mecca.
Indonesia Forms Sharia Finance Committee

August 07, 2017

Indonesia's President has announced the formation of a National Committee for Sharia Finance as a key policy step toward making the country, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, a global hub for sharia-compliant/compatible finance, banking and retail products, and tourism.
Islamic Finance Sustains Robust Global Growth

July 17, 2017

The systematic internationalization of sharia finance products and services by Islamic finance industry leaders, with particular focus on growing a non-Islamic customer base, accounts for the projected robust growth in the nearly $1.9 trillion sharia-compliant/compatible marketplace.
Dana Gas Case Highlights Sharia Finance Risks

July 10, 2017

The ongoing dispute over the refusal by the United Arab Emirates' Dana Gas to make $700 million in payments because of a controversy over the interpretation of sharia compliance is generating major international uncertainty over how to establish religious interpretive standards to mitigate the risks associated with Islamic financial instruments.
Islamic Finance Industry Pushes Digital Innovation

July 10, 2017

Financial experts in the $2 trillion Islamic finance industry report a paradigm shift toward digital innovation in sharia-compliant cryptocurrency, robo-advisory services, and other "financial literacy and inclusion technologies," that improve global competitiveness and growth in sharia finance and economies.
UAE Gas Case Shows Risks of Sharia Finance

June 23, 2017

The decision by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) energy giant Dana Gas to suspend payment on $700 million of debt on claims that the instruments no longer comply with sharia law raises alarm bells as investors face the prospect that "Islamic interpretation and religious standards" may now become a common justification to companies refusing to pay their debts.
Islamic Finance Summit Places Focus on Resilience, Global Growth

June 20, 2017

The October 2017 summit of the Islamic Finance Services Board, a standard-setting agency of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in Abu Dhabi will focus on reinvigorating sharia finance growth within the current climate of global geopolitical uncertainty and on maximizing new financial technologies for the resilience of sharia-complaint capital markets and products.
Islamic Banking Centers Pursue FinTech Innovation

June 06, 2017

Global finance experts are projecting intense competition among Mideast and Asian Islamic finance centers, from Dubai to Malaysia, to promote innovations in financial technology (fintech) as accelerators for the growth of sharia banking services.
Islamic Finance Shows Slowed Annual Growth

May 18, 2017

The annual report released by the Islamic Financial Services Board indicated that 2017 was a year of slowed growth in the sharia-compliant financial services industry, suggesting the industry's lack of resilience in the face of external shocks such as declining global oil prices and weak economic growth worldwide.
OIC Pushes Sharia Finance with World Bank

May 11, 2017

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) continues its efforts to promote the globalization of Islamic finance, working through its Islamic Development Bank to support the World Bank's recent conference in Malaysia to explore tapping into the $1.9 trillion market of sharia-compliant assets to finance global infrastructure development.