Islamic Finance and Economics

UAE Sharia Giant Acquires Majority Stake in Major UK Sharia Real Estate Financial Company

July 06, 2022

United Arab Emirates (UAE) multi-sector sharia-compliant investment company Gulf Islamic Investments has acquired a majority stake in OFFA, the UK’s first sharia-compliant real estate bridge financier, a move signaling the growing important of Islamic finance in the UK and aiming to grow the sharing-complaint real estate market in England’s city of Birmingham, which has the highest concentration of Muslims living in the United
Turkey-Saudi Diplomacy Signals Possible Rapprochement Between Two Key Mideast Islamist Regimes

June 27, 2022

This week’s visit between Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan signals a possible rapprochement between two of the Middle East’s key Islamist regimes with ambivalent relationships vis-a-via Israel and rocky relations the United States, in what May be a move beyond the Riyadh-Ankara rupture towards energy, trade, cultural, and security cooperation that unites the two Sunni Islamist states.
Sharia Finance & Banking Expands Presence in Philippines

May 11, 2022

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)located in the souther region of the Philippines is ground the presence of sharia-compliant/compatible banking and finance in the a southeast Asian country, with the banking and finance authorities announcing the establishment of a Shari’ah Supervisory Board (SSB) that will advance the regional project of developing an Islamic finance and banking system that operates viably in parallel to the country’s conventional system.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Exhorts University Students to Embrace Lauds New World Order

May 02, 2022

The Supreme Leader of Iran’s Islamic theocratic regime recently exhorted the country’s university students to celebrate the new world order that he identified with the war in Ukraine as evidence of declining US power, urging students studying abroad to use their soft power to spread Iran's Islamist revolutionary principles and underscoring the particular importance of Iran’s use of hard and soft power for influence-building in South Asia.
Islamic Finance Industry Shows String Growth Worldwide

April 28, 2022

Sharia-compliant/compatible finance assets continue to show robust global growth and are projected to reach almost $4 trillion within the next two years, according to a comprehensive report issued by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Islamic Development Bank, with especially strong expansion of the Islamic banking sector in the regions of the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
US Treasury's OFAC Sanctions IS Financiers & Facilitators in South Africa for Expanding Islamist Militancy

March 09, 2022

The US. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently designated four South Africa-based individuals as facilitators and financiers in criminal activity, including financial extortion, money laundering, and kidnapping for ransom, all towards supporting the organization, recruitment, and operations of IS in Africa, with Treasury's sanction aimed at staunching the spread of Islamist militancy across the African Continent.
Iran Inks 25-Year Strategic Cooperation Agreement With China

March 04, 2022

The 25-year strategic cooperation inked by Iran's Islamic theocratic regime with China's communist authoritarian regime is now coming onstream, generating a complex network of economic, military, and security arrangements that will reinforce the Islamic regime state coercive apparatus through access to China's digital technologies of surveillance, information control and distortion, and espionage.
Turkey’s Sanctions Busting & Money Laundering Under Scrutiny in US Court Case on Halkbank

February 08, 2022

The US Justice Department (DOJ) is watching this weeks Manhattan Court of Appeals decision by the government of Turkey on a DOJ case charging Turkish state lender Halkbank of money laundering and sanctions busting for Iran, with a negative ruling on the appeal set to trigger a case that will put senior leadership in NATO-member Turkey at the center of judicial proceedings.
Islamic Fintech on the Rise in UK and Global Markets

February 02, 2022

The United Kingdom’s (UK) strong interests in making London a global hub for sharia-compliant/compatible banking and finance is set to continue with a focus on aggressive expansion into Islamic do tech (financial technology), a sector that financial exports project to have robust short- and medium-term growth in both core Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries and in international markets.
Islamic Finance Continues Global Expansion Despite COVID

February 01, 2022

Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Iran are the leaders in the $200 billion global Islamic funds market, which continues to show strong growth under COVID conditions, and the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), which is the official monitoring entity of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Islamic Development Bank, forecasts continuing expansion of sharia-compliant/compatible funds.