Islamic Finance and Economics

Bosnia Court Case Highlights Europe & Levant Link

September 08, 2021

The indictment of a Bosnian women charged with providing financing for the estimated hundreds of Bosnian citizens fighting in Iraq and Syria for the Islamic State points to the active finance-fighter networks linking European actors to Islamist militants in the Levant.
FDD: Financial Watchdog Cracks Down on Turkish Public Lender’s German Subsidiary

September 07, 2021

Turkey's two largest banks, with direct ties to senior government officials in Turkey's Islamist regime, are under scrutiny in Germany and the United States, with Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) imposing strict regulatory requirements and fines on Ziraat Bank, Turkey's largest public lender, based on evidence of the bank's illicit financial activities involving Russian and Turkish sources.
Taliban Victory Highlights Geo-economic Consequences of Expanding Islamism

August 17, 2021

James M Dorsey writes on wionews.com that the Taliban’s conquest of Afghanistan will have significant repercussions for economic and trade competition across South and Central Asia, as the reality of a sharia-state regime in Afghanistan forces the US and India to reassess plans for investment in Iran’s port of Chabahar and pushes China to reconsider its investments in Pakistan for the Belt Road Initiative.
Islamic Economics and ESG May Have Compatible Ethical Claims

August 02, 2021

Islamic economics and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies may converge in promotion of banking and finance services, as promoters of sharia-based/compatible investment argue that there is an inherent compatibility between Quranic ethical precepts and the sustainability metrics for ESG initiatives.
Italy Arrests of IS Funders Indicates Extensive Islamist Terror Network

July 14, 2021

Italian state officials’ arrest of four individuals charged with funds collections and transfers to IS militants in countries such as Germany, Jordan, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and Russia, points to the robust, extensive Islamist terror financing networks operating across Eurasia.
Central Asia Is Positioned as Emerging Regional Hub for Islamic FinTech

July 14, 2021

Central Asia is positioned as an emerging regional hub for Islamic financial technolgy (fintech), given that the region’s OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) member-states are keen on combing sharia finance and banking with digitization to accelerate economic development that can leverage the region’s geopolitical advantages.
Indonesia Introduces Official University Curriculum on Islamic Economics & Finance

July 05, 2021

Indonesia’s National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KNEKS) is implementing a standardized curriculum on Islamic economics and finance across the secular and Islamic university system, toward the strategic goal of making the country a leader in the $2.2 trillion global sharia economy.
Brit Asset Manager Launches $1Bn Sharia-Compliant Fintech Private Equity Fund

June 30, 2021

UK asset manager Ethost plans to raise $1billion pounds in what international finance markets anticipate as the world's largest sharia-compliant financial-technology (fintech, including blockchain, robotics, and cyber securities industries) private equity fund.
Egypt’s Parliament Approves Move into Sharia Finance Market

June 25, 2021

Egypt’s parliament approved the MENA (Middle East and North Arica) country’s move to enter the $2.7 trillion international Islamic finance market with an issue of government-guaranteed Islamic bonds to finance national development and infrastructure.
Cryptocurrencies Politicized by Islamic Scholars

June 23, 2021

According to bitcoinmarketjournal.com, financial prediction about the growth of digital assets among the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims remains uncertain for the near term future due to the fact that the position of Bitcoin and other digital assets in Islamic finance remains largely dependent on Islamic cleric’s rulings on sharia copatability.