Prague: International conference on Islamic banking

Prague: International conference on Islamic banking

Via Radio Praha:

Islamic banking is today the fastest growing segment of the financial system, and is also considered a more honest and fairer alternative to conventional banking. Cihad Erginay is the Turkish ambassador to Prague, and head of the local group of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation which organized the event.

“There was great interest on the subject from our Czech colleagues, Czech bankers and journalists who kept asking us about it and expressed their interest because they saw that Islamic banks were not as affected by the economic crisis that we see today. That led us to think that it could be interesting to organize such a conference. And as you can see from the participation, there is great interest in the subject.”  

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Ireland: Becoming a hub for Islamic finance

Ireland: Becoming a hub for Islamic finance

Via thejournal.ie:

Ireland is one of many countries which has begun to look at Islamic finance as a way to help rebuild the financial services sector. Already Ireland is a base for 20 per cent of Islamic funds based outside of the Middle East, and the plan is to expand that even further.

“To someone like myself who has no particular expertise in the area, Islamic finance looks like a good fit for Ireland,” Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore told an audience during a speech last month.

Germany: Malaysians to bring Islamic investment

Germany: Malaysians to bring Islamic investment


Via DW:

Islamic investing represents a 1.2 trillion-euro market. Now one Malaysian firm wants to bring the trend to Germany. Others have tried and failed before, so it could be a struggle.

Confident and professional, the female chief executive of Malaysia-based CIMB-Principal recently gave a press conference in Frankfurt about the only registered Islamic investment fund in Germany.

With uncovered hair, red lipstick and silver earrings, Noripah Kamso said, "I want to share the new i-word with you. It doesn't stand for iPad, iPhone or inflation–but for Islamic banking."

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France: Paris seeks to become Islamic finance hub in Europe

France: Paris seeks to become Islamic finance hub in Europe


Via Zawya:

A report prepared by KFH-Research stated that new global markets are seeking to join the main players in the Islamic financing industry and services, such as France. France is working relentlessly to make numerous legal and organizational reformations to facilitate the offering of Islamic financial services and products.

The report added that there is great potential for growth in the field of Islamic financial services in France, since France seeks to become a hub for Islamic banking in Europe. It noted that 1.5 million clients are willing to use Islamic banking tools and products, which equals USD 18.2 billion. In addition, French authorities have offered strong support to develop Islamic banking services, not to mention the high number of Muslims living there who seek Islamic banking services. However, the report mentioned that some legislations need to be amended.

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Denmark: Number of non-westerners on incapacity pensions has increased almost ten-fold

Denmark: Number of non-westerners on incapacity pensions has increased almost ten-fold

Via Politiken:

While the number of ethnic Danes on incapacity pensions has dropped considerably over the past 20 years, the number of non-westerners has increased dramatically.

Since 1990, the number of immigrants from non-Western countries on incapacity pensions has risen from 2,979 to 27,375, according to a Rockwool Foundation Research Unit report in Berlingske today.

Belgium: Bank polls Muslims on Jewish-sounding name

Belgium: Bank polls Muslims on Jewish-sounding name

Via Elder of Zion, De Morgen:

The Dexia Bank of Belgium was bought out by the Belgian government last year in a bailout, and since it is no longer part of the Dexia group it needed a new name.

According to DeMorgan.be, one of the names on the shortlist was Symmon or a variant like Symon or Symona, to give the bank a more personalized flavor. A human name like Symmon would push the idea that the bank is simple to use, has good service and is reliable.

But there were two objections to that name.

One is that it was not particularly Belgian, which many desired.

The other was that the name Symmon was too - Jewish!

Although market analysis showed that the resistance of the Muslim community [to the name] is not insurmountable, the Dexia marketers saw the connotation as a major limitation.

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Finland: More immigrants among the homeless

Finland: More immigrants among the homeless

Via YLE:

The figures for immigrants without a place to live have also gone up, according to ARA. In 2011, homeless immigrants living alone numbered over 1,000 for the first time. They now account for 13 percent of all the homeless, whereas before this figure was 9 percent.

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Germany: Bank Offers ‘Islam-Compliant’ Investment

Germany: Bank Offers ‘Islam-Compliant’ Investment

Via the Weekly Standard:

Last month, German bank WestLB rolled out a new “Islam-compliant” investment product named the Islamic Strategy Index Certificate. The value of the certificate is based on the value of the WestLB Islamic Deutschland Index, consisting of shares of ten German firms “whose business activities are consistent with the ethical rules of Islam.”

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Belgium: Sharia bank accounts to be offered by Chaabi Bank

Belgium: Sharia bank accounts to be offered by Chaabi Bank

Ireland: Gov't plans to be first EU state to sell Islamic bond

Ireland: Gov't plans to be first EU state to sell Islamic bond

Via the Irish Examiner (h/t Jihad Watch):

IRELAND plans to become the first European nation to sell sovereign sukuk — Islam-approved financial certificates — as its equal tax treatment for Islamic-finance products attracts investors.

The Government has agreements with more than 60 countries to avoid double taxation on Islamic transactions, Micheál Smith, the south-east Asia director of IDA Ireland, said.

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Sweden: Immigrant homelessness on the rise

Sweden: Immigrant homelessness on the rise

Via the Local:

(...)

In total, the study showed that 34 percent of the overall homeless population, some 10,900 people, were born outside of Sweden.

Some 40 percent of these were women and 60 percent were men.

A third of these came from other European countries. The second largest group originated in the Middle East and the third largest in Africa.

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Madrid: Saudi-Spanish Collaboration Seeks to boost Islamic finance values in Europe

Madrid: Saudi-Spanish Collaboration Seeks to boost Islamic finance values in Europe

Denmark: Importing educated immigrants is a money maker

Denmark: Importing educated immigrants is a money maker

Via the Copenhagen Post:

Highly educated immigrants bring skills to Denmark, creating a high yield investment
Following years of strident debate about whether immigration will be the death of Denmark’s welfare system, the irony is that certain immigrants could soon be seen as its saviours.

Facts presented in a just-released research study show that highly educated immigrants – whether they come from developed ‘Western’ countries or under-developed ‘non-Western’ ones – are putting far more money into the state’s coffers than they are taking out.

The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) study – which is co-funded by Microsoft and Dansk Industri (DI), an association representing more than 10,000 Danish companies – is the first of its kind to measure Denmark’s net profit from highly educated foreign workers.

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Netherlands: New arrivals can borrow €10,000 to pay for integration courses

Netherlands: New arrivals can borrow €10,000 to pay for integration courses

Via DutchNews:

New arrivals to the Netherlands will be able to borrow up to €10,000 in a soft loan to pay for their compulsory integration (inburgering) course, the government has decided.

Immigrants will have up to three years to pass the course, which will include a centrally-organised examination, or lose their residency permit.

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Switzerland: Cantons deporting foreigners on welfare

Switzerland: Cantons deporting foreigners on welfare

Via the Local:

Increased information sharing between social services and immigration authorities in some Swiss cantons is leading to an increase in deportations, even in cases where no crime has been committed.

Cantons like Sankt Gallen, in the northwest of Switzerland, and Schwyz, in the centre of the country, have implemented cross-checks in their immigration services to catch foreigners on long-term social benefits and deport them, newspaper Tages Anzeiger reports.

In Sankt Gallen, there are around 90 such cases per year. Other cantons, like Zurich, do not keep statistics on the individual reasons for deportation and cannot offer any numbers. However, in both Zurich and in Schwyz, the Immigration Office has recruited additional staff in recent months specifically to deal with cases of this kind.

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Netherlands: Turks to claim back integration course costs

Netherlands: Turks to claim back integration course costs

Via DutchNews:

Thousands of Turkish nationals are set to claim back the cost of integration courses from the Dutch state, now that the compulsory classes have been ruled illegal, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Tuesday.

Lawyer Bilal Coskun told the paper some 30,000 Turks have been forced to take the courses, many of them in Turkey itself.

He has now set up a foundation to represent them in claiming back an average €5,000 per person.

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UK: Muslims demand Sharia student loans

UK: Muslims demand Sharia student loans

Via the Daily Mail (h/t Jihad Watch)

Muslim groups are calling for a separate student loan system because the interest due to be charged will conflict with rules of Sharia law.

The changes to tuition fees, which come into force next year, will see students charged higher rates of interest on the loans they take out to pay for university.

France: Bank to offer Sharia-compatible accounts

France: Bank to offer Sharia-compatible accounts
Via Euro-Islam:

Chaabi Bank, a subsidiary of the Banque populaire du Maroc announced it would open the first accounts in France that are Sharia-compatible. It intends to propose mortgages under the same principles by the end of the year.

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UK: Sharia-compliant pension fund launched

UK: Sharia-compliant pension fund launched

Via the Independent (h/t Shariah Finance Watch):

The first Sharia-compliant pension fund has been launched in the UK.

The fund which does not invest in companies that trade in guns, alcohol, gambling, tobacco or pornography, nor does it receive interest, has been launched by Pointon York and the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB).

Investors will be able to save in a self-invest personal pension and choose from a range of Sharia-compliant assets. These could include cash, funds and property.

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Spain: Non-Spaniards put more into welfare state than they get out

Spain: Non-Spaniards put more into welfare state than they get out

Via ThinkSpain:

Immigrants contribute "much more" to the welfare state, especially in education, health and pensions, than they receive, since they now make up 12% of the poulation and yet only account for 5.6% of the use of these services.

This is the main conclusion of a study on "Immigration and the Welfare State in Spain" which has looked into the contribution made by non-Spaniards to the country's economic growth and the strength of the social security system, and the use they make of social services, concluding that they actually make a "positive net contribution".

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