FINANCE - Qatari group to invest at least $500 mln in Turkish tourism industry

A semi-governmental Qatari group is going to build multiple hotels to attract conservative Muslim vacationers in Turkey with a total investment of at least $500 million, the Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday. (source)

FINANCE - Turkey Finance, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam'dan murabaha loan was a $ 75 million.

ISTANBUL - Turkey Finance, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam murabaha loan with a 5-year term with the new $ 75 million in the year 2011 a total of 800 million dollars worth of foreign loans has been provided. SMEs as a priority use of the new loan will be available from the received usury. (source)

EVENTS - Islamic Investment and Finance Forum (Istanbul - Oct 24-27, 2011)

Welcome to the Islamic Investment and Finance Forum 2011
As the global Islamic Finance industry continues to grow, new markets and new opportunities are starting to emerge. Turkey's 2011 Finance Bill included tax neutrality measures for sukuk leading to high expectations of a wave of Turkish corporate sukuk. Gulf Islamic banks have been investing in setting up Islamic financial institutions in the CIS countries and African nations are increasingly exploring sukuk as a means of financing essential infrastructure development.

Take part in the Islamic Investment and Finance Forum 2011 and join the global Islamic investment and finance industry to explore and capitalise on new markets, distribution channels, new product development and investment and asset management opportunities in the Islamic sector.

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BANKING - G Capital, a subsidiary of GFH acquires Adabank in Turkey

G Capital a Dubai based company and a subsidiary of the Bahraini investment bank, Gulf Finance House (GFH), in partnership with Gürmen Group, has acquired Adabank in Turkey for US$ 75 million. Adabank is a Turkish Bank headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey and placed for sale by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF). (source)

BANKING - Erdogan Friend Gur to Buy Adabank With Gulf Finance House

Turkish businessman Remzi Gur, a close friend of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Gulf Finance House won an auction for Adabank of Turkey, which was put up for sale by a fund managing failed banks.

Gur and GFH bid $75 million for Istanbul-based Adabank and will have a 50-50 partnership in the unit, Gur said in televised comments on Bloomberg HT television today. Gur and GFH were the only bidders in the auction.(source)

FINANCE - IDB members urged to support ISFD

JEDDAH: A meeting of experts at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on Wednesday urged member countries to fulfill their pledges to the capital of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), which was established for poverty alleviation in the Islamic world.

FINANCE - Gov’t plans to ship bourse across Bosphorus

Speaking at a conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says he plans to move the bourse to Ataşehir on the Asian side of the city. The government aims to turn the Ataşehir district into a regional and then a global financial center, as various financial institutions are buying up land in the area

The government, led by PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, aims to turn the Ataşehir district, on Istanbul’s Asian side, into a regional and then a global financial center. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has upped the ante in his grand plan to turn Istanbul into a regional financial hub, announcing his intent to move the Istanbul Stock Exchange, or ISE, currently in İstinye, to Ataşehir on the Asian side of the city.

Interior Minister Beşir Atalay said in a separate statement that the Turkish Central Bank would remain headquartered in Ankara for the time being.

Speaking at a conference marking the ISE’s 25th anniversary, Erdoğan said the headquarters of state banks and “of relevant institutions” will be moved to Istanbul in the next two or three years. “We also wish to move the ISE to the finance center,” Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying.

FINANCE - Sharjah Islamic Bank launches 0% profit Hajj financing service

The first-of-its-kind service offered by an Islamic bank in the UAE will enable a lot of people to perform Hajj and pay back the cost via easy and affordable monthly installments for one year without any profit, fees or extra costs.

SHARJAH — Sharjah Islamic Bank, or SIB, has announced the launch of 0% profit financing service for Hajj 
under the theme “Perform Hajj this year and pay it off over the year with no profit”. 

FINANCE - Malaysia To Take Lead In Establishing Supra-Sovereign Wealth Fund

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will take the lead in facilitating the establishment of the Supra-Sovereign Wealth Fund (SSWF) in its bid to attract large amounts of sovereign wealth funds from prosperous Islamic countries.