Catch up from a busy week

• The Asian sukuk market has rebounded slightly in 2009 as a few sovereign issuers, including Indonesia and Malaysia's government and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have issued sukuk. There are a few other soverign sukuk issues planned this year that could include Tailand and China as well as additional issues from Singapore, the first issue by a government entity in Hong Kong and regular issuance by Malaysia.
  
• The 2009 budget for the UK includes taxation changes that provide relief for sukuk from stamp duty for the transactions involved in transferring land between the financer and the SPV. The government had considered issuing a sovereign sukuk, but those plans remain on hold but could come at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010 at the earliest.
  
• A new provider of Islamic home finance was authorized by the FSA in the UK. The newest company is Pink Home Loans.
  
• Al Baraka Banking Group, the Bahraini-based Islamic bank that is spearheading the new mega-Islamic bank is planning to launch an Islamic bank in France. The CEO Adnan Yousif indicated on CNBC Arabiya that French regulators have expressed interest in the bank's plans to start an Islamic bank in France.
  
• The Central Bank of Bahrain issued BD6 million ($15.9 million) more Al-Salam 91 day maturity sukuk for which there were more than BD25m (a bid-to-cover ratio of 4.17).
  
• The Houston Chronicle has an article on Islamic home finance which also provides a criticism of the Islamic home finance from Dr. Mahmoud El-Gamal.