Gold standard in Islamic finance 'almost there' for submission

Gold products used in Islamic finance would need to be physically-backed and allocated to the underlying asset, according to a draft of a standard for Shariah gold being developed. Mohd Daud Bakar, a Shariah scholar who is writing the draft for the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions, said the document is almost finished. The committee formed to develop the gold standard will meet once more next Sunday and then submit the proposal to AAOIFI's Shariah Board, he said. The gold standard is expected to be completed later this year, and public hearings could be held in Morocco and Dubai and possibly Indonesia or Malaysia, Bakar said.