Middle East and Africa Agent Network expands to over 38,000 locations Dubai, United Arab Emirates – April 30th, 2012 – The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, announced it has opened the 500,000th Agent location through which it provides its expanding portfolio of financial services. The network spans more than 200 countries and territories, and …

April 30, 2012, Makati City, Philippines – The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and the Indonesia Infrastructure Guarantee Fund (IIGF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during the 2012 Asia Finance and Risk Mitigation Forum  in Makati City, Philippines on 30 April 2012. Dr. Abdel Rahman El-Tayeb Taha, the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC and …

Total ITFC Financing to Bangladesh tops US$9.6 billion since 2008 Dhaka, April 2012: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, signed a US$855 million Import Finance Murabaha Agreement with The People’s Republic of Bangladesh (represented by the Energy & Mineral Resources Division) and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), for the import of crude …

IN COLLABORATION WITH THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES AND THE SUPPORT OF FIVE UNITED NATIONS SPECIALIZED AGENCIES Doha, Qatar 21 April 2012: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, represented by Dr. Waleed Al-Wohaib, Chief Executive Officer, announced a major trade capacity development initiative for Arab States. This initiative obligates ITFC to …

Jeddah, 09 April, 2012: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, signed a US$180 million syndicated structured Murabaha Agreement with Societe Anonyme Marocaine de l’Industrie du Raffinage (SAMIR) in Morocco, for the import of crude oil and petroleum products. The agreement was signed by Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, Acting CEO of …

Non-Independent Investment Research Energy markets will face a bumpy road ahead as geo-politics once again, just like a year ago with Libya, has intensified the unpredictable nature of oil markets. As tensions between the West and Iran over its nuclear intentions escalated during Q1 so too did the price of crude oil, to such an extent that it could eventually …

Event serves as testament to the international community’s confidence in Institute’s role as a regional hub for legal and judicial excellence April 22, 2012 Dubai Judicial Institute (DJI), a leading centre for legal studies and judicial training in Dubai and a member of the General Network for Government Communication, has launched today (Sunday, April 22, 2012) an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) …

MEIFIC 2012 to Discuss Key Strategies to Capture Growth Potential in the Regional Islamic Finance Industry Dubai: United Arab Emirates: 17th April 2012: Leading players, industry thought leaders and key regulators in the regional Islamic finance and investment industry will take part in the 2nd Annual Middle East Islamic Finance and Investment Conference (MEIFIC 2012), which will be held on …

Centralised alert service to ease regulatory compliance BRUSSELS, 16 April 2012 –Today, SWIFT announced the launch of Sanctions Screening, a centralised service for small- and medium-sized financial institutions in need of a cost-effective, easy route to compliance with sanctions regulations. SWIFT developed the Sanctions Screening service to help its community keep up with increasing regulatory obligations. Complying with evolving sanctions …

Partnership to facilitate Kuwaiti Bank’s transactions in Asia Kuwait, 15 April, 2012 – Standard Chartered announced today that it has signed two agreements with Warba Bank to facilitate their transactions in Asia. The announcement comes in light of increased trade activity between Middle Eastern and North African Financial Institutions and Companies with Asia in general and China in particular. As …

Bank named ‘Best SME Internet Banking’ and ‘Best SME Foreign Exchange Service’ UAE, 11 April, 2012– Standard Chartered announced today that its SME Banking Business was recognised as the ‘Best SME Internet Banking provider and Best SME Foreign Exchange Service Provider’ for 2012 by Banker Middle East, a leading regional banking and finance publication. The Bank received the awards at …

2012 edition of the report titled “Industry Growth and Preparing for Regulatory Change” to be exclusively launched at a special plenary session of the 7th Annual World Takaful Conference (WTC 2012) in Dubai Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 10 April 2012: The World Takaful Report 2012, developed in collaboration with leading international advisory firm Ernst & Young, will be officially launched …

96% of delegates are considering launching a prepaid mobile payment product into the market Manama, 9th April 2012: Visa, one of the world’s leading payment solutions providers, has highlighted the level of innovation in the Middle East prepaid market following the annual Prepaid Summit: Middle East 2012. The event reinforces prepaid products as one of the most exciting categories in …

Bank to move staff to new building in December 2012 UAE – 8 April, 2012 – Standard Chartered today held a ‘Top Out’ ceremony to celebrate completion of construction of its new UAE headquarters in Downtown Dubai, adjacent to Emaar Square. The ceremony was attended by Jonathan Morris, CEO, Standard Chartered UAE and senior managers from the Bank. Construction started …

04 APRIL 2012 ICIEC’s BOG Approves 1432H Results ICIEC provides more than US$ 3billion in Export Credit Insurance to Member Countries The Board of Governors of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), member of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, approved in its 19th Annual Meeting, held today in Khartoum, Republic of Sudan, the Annual …

Bank announced its Alternative Fund Services business received the ‘Best Administrator – Managed Account Services’ award at HFMWeek magazine’s European Hedge Fund Services Awards Event which was held in London on March 28, 2012. HFMWeek’s European Hedge Fund Services Awards are designed to recognize companies that have outperformed their peer group over the course of 2011. The awards recognize institutions …