Thursday, June 21, 2007

GE may enter Islamic financial industry

General Electric may enter the Islamic finance industry with a partner already doing Islamic finance. In a presentation (pdf) on "Growth in Developing Markets" from September 29, 2006, Islamic banking is briefly mentioned under the heading "Developing products to fit markets".

Brunei issued more Shari'ah-compliant government bonds. They issued $46 million in ijara sukuk bringing the total issued by the government since April 2006 to B$800 million (US$521 million). The 91-day sukuk have a yield of 2.275%.

50% of Middle Eastern project financing involves Islamic financing.

Speaking at the "Sukuk Summit" in London, Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, the Malaysian central bank described the need for "greater diversity in the type and maturity of the sukuk in the market for Islamic financial institutions and portfolio managers to manage their funds effectively".

A new report from KPMG describes the barriers remaining to the expansion of Islamic finance.

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