IslamicFinance.de

A sukuk is a sharia-based hybrid instrument that can have the features of both a conventional debt instrument and of equity. Sharia requires all financial contracts to be rooted in real sector activities. Sukuk has coupons paid at prefixed times in the future. However, the quantum of the coupon is not prefixed, but depends on the performance of the sukuk-issuing enterprise. This ensures that the sukuk holders partake in the risk of the enterprise. A sukuk can be issued for any commodity. The commodity-linked sukuk would not only be a win-win instrument for both investors and issuers, it would also be beneficial to society.

As the mutual fund industry has developed, in more recent years it has witnessed the growth of sharia-compliant funds (SCFs) and socially responsible funds (SRFs). Although both classes of funds employ certain screening criteria, there exists a distinction between them. The International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance examined the performance of socially responsible funds against shariah-compliant peers. The results suggest significant underperformance of both types of funds against the market, suggesting that the screening has a negative impact on them. However, SCFs managed to do slightly better than SRFs.

Malaysia fund house Maybank Asset Management has chosen Standard Chartered as its trustee for the first sharia-compliant fund that has been approved for Asean passporting. The Maybank Bosera Greater China Asean Equity I-Fund was approved by the Securities Commission of Malaysia for distribution under the Asean Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) in March. The fund was subsequently launched for sale in the Malaysian market in April. Maybank AM has two funds from its Singapore office that are also waiting to be passported in Malaysia and Thailand. But the contract with StanChart only covers Maybank AM Malaysia.

Rita Raagas De Ramos reported in Asian Investor on 7 April about the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Hong Kong’s Securities & Futures Commission the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) calling for mutual cooperation on capacity building and human capital development in Islamic finance, as well as the promotion and development of their respective Islamic capital market segments; both parties will examine the possibility of establishing a framework for the mutual recognition of their regulatory regimes on Islamic funds to facilitate cross-border marketing and distribution of such funds.

The MOU for cooperation on Islamic finance and capacity building was signed by Hong Kong SFC CEO Martin Wheatley and the DFSA CEO David Knott.

Source: http://www.asianinvestor.net/article.aspx?CIaNID=73222