Emir Zainul

Jurisdictions with Islamic banking systems could be more vulnerable to deposit disintermediation with the issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), according to the IMF in its recently issued working paper titled ‘Monetary Policy Implications of Central Bank Digital Currencies: Perspectives on Jurisdictions with Conventional and Islamic Banking Systems’.

The UK’s Islamic fintech community could get a much-needed boost from the government as His Majesty’s Treasury has launched a new national hub for fintech named the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), enabling fintech firms to benefit from new waves of technological change and innovation— widening consumer choice, cutting costs and increasing efficiency.

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has launched a new program to accelerate...

Saudi Technology Venture (STV), the largest technology venture capital (VC) fund in the Middle East, has launched its Total Growth platform, which will utilize a newly developed product named Tanami that will act as a Shariah compliant non-dilutive venture debt instrument.

The Central Bank of Oman (CBO), in collaboration with 51%-state-owned telecommunications company Omantel, has...

Fintech firms in Saudi Arabia are set to get a boost in new business opportunities as the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced the launch of a new open banking services lab to allow businesses to test out their products against an established framework.

Two years after receiving a financial technology experiment permit (FinTech ExPermit) from the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) in 2020, Mudaraba Financial Company (MFC) has officially launched its Sukuk crowdfunding platform, which issues Sukuk on behalf of MSMEs as an alternative financing tool utilizing capital market instruments.