National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) has signed a Murabaha financing agreement with the Saudi British Bank (SABB) and the National Commercial Bank for SR822.6 million ($219 million). The money will be used to finance 80% of the cost of con…
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. Its capital city is Jakarta, which is located on the island of Java. Since the majority of the population of Indonesia are Muslims, Indonesia can be considered the largest Islamic state in the…
A South Korean parliamentary panel has reached a tentative agreement to give tax breaks to sukuk bonds, clearing the way for domestic companies to start to sell Islamic bonds begining with next year.
The finance ministry had proposed a revision to the …
SOUTH Korea is keen to foster further cooperation with Malaysia to beef up its Islamic finance and services sector that is at its infancy stage.
Korea Investment and Securities head of Islamic finance Yul-Hee Lee said there has been many enquiries made…
A special fund which receives contributions to be given out for scholarships, research and development activities called the “Dana Khas INCEIF” has been set up by the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF).
Set up by Bank Negara Malaysia in 2006, INCEIF, the global university for Islamic finance has received contributions totaling RM909,146 from a number of local and foreign financial institutions.
Contributions have been channeled to INCEIF’s funds, namely the Financial Assistance and the Fisabilillah Trust Fund.
A total of RM798,240 or 88 per cent of the total amount received have been disbursed to 251 deserving students as of to date, both to Malaysians and non Malaysians including Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and India, all based on their academic results and potential contribution to the Islamic finance industry.
The interest of Korean companies in sukuk bonds has grown after the difficult borrowing conditions they experienced during the 2008 global financial crisis.
The Korean government last year promised to ease restrictions that would pave the way for the local issuance of Islamic, or sukuk, bonds that are favored by Muslim investors because they conform to Islamic laws banning interest payments.
The proposed changes being considered in the National Assembly are being blocked by Christian activists who claim that the sukuk bonds are being used to finance terrorism.
Na Seong-lin, a Grand National Party lawmaker and a member of the National Assembly taxation subcommittee found the allegations “absolutely ridiculous” and “lacking any evidence.”
The taxation subcommittee, chaired by Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Hye-hoon, repeatedly delayed finishing a formal review of the sukuk bill, explaining that some sentences in the bill may “give an impression that local companies have to follow tenets of a certain religion.”
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