Islamic Finance on the Upswing

ISLAMABAD, 24 September 2007 — Islamic finance is on the upswing in the Middle East-Gulf-Pakistan-Asia region, a two-day Asia Finance Conference observed, and industry sources say the future potential is massive. They said that though Islamic financing sprang out of the Gulf region, Pakistan, Asian countries and the rest of the world are caching up.

Solidarity launches Motor Claims call centre

Solidarity, one of largest takaful companies in the world, announced the launch of its Motor Claims call centre to service Solidarity’s Motor Takaful policy holders. The Centre aims, through its toll free number, to provide information and answer clients’ queries related to their motor claims aiming to facilitate speedy settlement of claims.

SALAMA migrates to SonicWALL’s UTM security platform

Islamic Arab Insurance Company SALAMA, a leading worldwide provider of Shari’ah compliant insurance solutions (Takaful), today announced the successful deployment of its revamped security infrastructure based on SonicWALL’s Unified Threat Management (UTM) security platform.

Saudis invest in BIIH

Saudi Arabian investors have provided 50% of the $40m raised by British Islamic Insurance Holdings (BIIH), a UK based Takaful firm, in a private placement reported Arab News. The BIIH also hopes to raise $160m via an IPO with a similar amount via a second tranche at a later date taking the capitalisation to around $360m. Saudi businessman Abdul Aziz Hamad Al Jomaih, who has invested $4m, is the firm’s Chairman. (Source)

MiddleEast Insurance Review turns one

The MiddleEast Insurance Review Incorporating Global Takaful (MIR) commemorates its first anniversary in September by holding the first-ever Global Middle East Insurance Summit in London. In its September issue, highlighting the Middle East and North African (Mena) reinsurance market and reviewing the challenges in the takaful market.

Pak-Qatar Takaful Group commences family and general Takaful business in Pakistan

Having received their licenses from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the 16th of August 2007, Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited and Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited have commenced Takaful business in Pakistan. This made Pak-Qatar the first group to have both a family and general Takaful company under one umbrella. This also makes Pak-Qatar Family Takaful the first ever family Takaful operator in Pakistan.

Solidarity & Ahad to establish insurance company in KSA with SR400 million paid up capital

Solidarity, one of the largest Takaful companies in the world, signed a memorandum of understanding with Ahad Insurance Company, headquartered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to establish an insurance company that complies with Islamic Sharia’h, with 400 million Saudi riyals in paid up capital.

Saudi Insurance Summit to examine potential of newly-liberalised sector

Saudi Arabia’s newly liberalised insurance market is poised for major growth with estimates that a market currently worth around USD1.5 billion annually could soar to USD8 billion within 10 years, according to industry experts. Growth is already happening in one of the major insurance sectors - health cover - due to a combination of new labour laws and the opening of the kingdom’s insurance sector to regional and international competition.
According to Dr Abdullah Al Sharif, Secretary General of the Council for Co-operative Health Insurance at the Ministry of Health, there is huge potential for growth in health insurance which, until now, has contributed less than 0.5% of the kingdom’s gross domestic product.

Pak-Qatar gets go-ahead

Pak-Qatar Family Takaful and Pak-Qatar General Takaful have received licences to begin offering their shariah compliant insurance products in Pakistan. Pak-Qatar General Takaful will cover sectors such as property, auto, marine and engineering, while Pak-Qatar Family will offer financial protection covering death or disability, health, education and retirement income plans. A number of Qatari firms are behind the two companies, including the Qatar National Bank and the Qatar Islamic Bank (Source)

Innovation in Islamic banking is key to industry development, says Islamic finance expert

An Islamic finance expert today called upon Islamic financial institutions to make of innovation a priority in order to take Islamic banking to new heights as the industry is rapidly shifting from a niche into a mainstream segment in the global financial landscape.

Speaking at an Islamic finance workshop held in Dubai, Asif Mumtz, Regional Head of HSBC Amanah Middle East conceded that Islamic finance had seen tremendous growth over the past 25 years with a significant number of providers across many regions catering for almost all customer needs.