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Habib Bank of Pakistan will establish an Islamic subsidiary.

Zakir Mahmood, President, Habib Bank Limited disclosed on Tuesday that HBL is going to establish a full-fledged subsidiary to promote Islamic banking.

Addressing the Islamic finance mandate of Rs8.5 billion for Dawood Hercules Chemicals at a local hotel he said the subsidiary would be established in few months.

7Days has an article on how Islamic finance is becoming part of the mainstream, rather than a niche market.

Gulf News reports:

Global sales of sukuk may more than double this year to $50 billion from $20 billion in 2006 as companies seek to diversify their sources of funding and as more banks offer the service, according to a senior Deutsche Bank executive.

Middle East and other companies looking to attract investors from the Arab region may sell as much as $10 billion worth of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, during the next month, said Deutsche Bank, which is arranging many of the sales.

The Star of Malaysia has an article on the strength of of Islamic finance.

The Malaysian takaful market benefits from the country's established regulatory and legal environment and faces comparatively lower industry risk compared with the market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), according to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.