The CEO of Hong Kong's Securities & Futures Commission, Martin Wheatley, continued the drive to attract Shari'ah-compliant finance to the city-state in a speech today (the speech is available as a pdf). In the speech, Mr. Wheatley noted that the Hong Kong exchange presents a way for investors to "capture the investment opportunities in an emerging market [China], while enjoying the services and investor protection of a developed market". Mainland Chinese firms account for only 19% of the total listings on the Hong Kong exchange, but for 57% of total market capitalization and 70% of total volume. There are already tracking funds for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Hong Kong/China Titans Index as well as a large Malaysian sukuk (one of the Khazanah exchangeable sukuk) and the prospect for a sovereign sukuk from the Airport Authority.
U.K.-based think tank Chatham House released a survey about the GCC's development as a global financial center, including a brief discussion of the Islamic finance industry there. The report (available as a PDF) notes that "the subjective element can also create long delays and uncertainty [so a] number of Islamic investors are not fully tapped into or committed to this market [because they are] unsure what products really are Sharia-compliant". However, "broadly speaking, Sharia scholars are now in agreement on product design and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) is taking some steps in the direction of harmonization. This should help create greater trust and clarity among ordinary potential clients, generate more demand and help the industry to expand more widely."
CPI Financial has commentary by Bill Gibbon, a lawyer at Voison, and Trevor Norman of Volaw Trust & Corporate Services, on the Shari'ah-compliance of hedge funds and ways in which some funds have adapted some Islamic finance products to replicate short sales and margin. What is not covered is whether a hedge fund, which they define as ‘a fund that uses derivatives, leverage, shorting, margin trading and option techniques to achieve its absolute return investment goals’ is in its whole, Shari'ah-compliant. Instead, they focus on the component transactions that run into problems with Shari'ah scholars.
Islamic finance in the GCC has a concentration of government ownership larger than would generally be predicted, according to a recent Moody's report on Islamic finance.
Qatar Islamic Bank plans to launch its own takaful provider. A number of takaful companies are sprouting up around the GCC following the success of Islamic finance in the region.
The first publicly-listed Shari'ah-compliant REIT will soon be available in Singapore. The REIT will be converted from a conventional REIT with a large stake in the management company being taken by the National Bank of Australia. The debt currently owed by the REIT, the Cambridge Industrial Trust, will be converted in Shari'ah-compliant financing.
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