IslamicFinance.de

Steuerliche Würdigung im nationalen und internationalen Kontext

Der Markt Islamic Finance wächst rasant und umfasst bereits heute ein erhebliches Anlagevolumen. Demgegenüber besteht ein großer Kapitalbedarf in der europäischen, speziell auch in der deutschen Realwirtschaft ebenso wie ein Bedarf an Investoren.

Bei der Umsetzung von Islamic-Finance-Vertragsmodellen kann die Besteuerung im Einzelfall eine ausschlaggebende Rolle spielen. Daher erläutert die Autorin in diesem Buch für ausgewählte schariakonforme Finanzierungs- und Anlageformen zunächst die Scharia-Rahmenbedingungen der jeweiligen Vertragsmodelle aus deutscher rechtlicher, ertragsteuerlicher und verkehrsteuerlicher Sicht. Die steuerlichen Fragestellungen werden anhand von Beispielen im grenzüberschreitenden Corporate Bereich im Schnittpunkt von deutschem internationalem Steuerrecht und ausländischem Steuerrecht der weiteren beteiligen Staaten verdeutlicht.

Inhalt

* Einleitung
* Grundzüge von Islamic-Finance-Vertragsmodellen
- eigenkapitalbasierte („Musharaka“ und „Mudaraba“),
- fremdkapitalbasierte („Murabaha“ und „Tawarruq“) sowie

ResearchGATE is the largest social network for academic research globally. Dedicated social profiles of researchers allow to enter academic careers, published articles in journals and books, announce fields of research for international exchange just to name a few of the features.

IslamicFinance.de took another effort to create a dedicated group and invite researchers globally to use this platform and foster research in Islamic finance. The last academic initiative taken was to sponsor and start a full fledged platform for the Islamic Finance WIKI, the online encyclopedia.

Researchers are invited to participate in these initiatives.

Please visit:
http://www.researchgate.net/group/Islamic_Finance/

In the current issues the following questions are discussed:

How should we recognize excellence in the Islamic finance industry?
How do we identify greatness – of bankers and financiers, of lawyers, of consultants, of scholars?
How do we discourage a culture of „Islamic Awards for Cash??
How do we develop an „Islamic? methodology for rewarding achievement?

"THE CONCEPT AND OPERATIONS OF SWAP AS A HEDGING MECHANISM FOR ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS"

The main objective of this paper is to give a clearer picture of the swap mechanism as offered by the international Islamic financial institutions and how its operations are structured in accordance with Shariah principles and contracts. In preparing this paper, ISRA has held a series of internal discussions as well as with outside parties, including Shariah experts and operating officers from international banks directly involved in the structuring of Shariah-compliant swap products. Documents related to the products and related academic materials were also referred to, giving a wider and thorough perspective on the issue.

by

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki
Head of Research Affairs Department
International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA)

Shabnam Mokhtar
Researcher
International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA)

Download: http://www.isra.my/media-centre/downloads/summary/29/216.html

The paper analyses the balance sheet and business model of Gulf Finance House and identifies certain pattern to charge fees in their business model and criticises the same.

By Mohammed Khnifer, Aatef Baig, and Frank Winkler
Reading University
May 2010

FINANCE & ETHICS: DAS POTENTIAL VON ISLAMIC FINANCE, SRI, SPARKASSEN
HERAUSGEBER:
ALBERT LÖHR UND MILENA V. VALEVA
VERLAG: HAMPP, R; AUFLAGE: 1., AUFLAGE (1. APRIL 2010)
ISBN: 978-3866184558
Language: German

English SUMMARY
The global financial crisis of 2008/2009 found its initial expression in the banking crisis. The crisis made it unequivocally clear, that the exclusion of morals and ethics from the under-standing of finance should not continue. The question at hand is: Are ethics in the financial realm conceivable? Which normative understandings of finance are justifiable? Which im-plementation approaches of ethics and finance could be derived from theory and practice?

The 4th executive summmary now focusses on over 220 Shariah scholars with exposure to the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC), including their international board memberships with 1050+ board positions in almost 300
institutions and 24 countries.

It is the single most detailed analysis on Sharia Boards and their scholars published.

Press Release

Today sees the launch of a new Journal on Islamic finance from dedicated Islamic finance media entity Yasaar Media.

The Journal, called So Far – the Journal of Strategic Thinking in Islamic Finance, is written and edited by members of an Islamic finance Think Tank and is modelled on traditional academic journals. The difference with So Far is that the members of the Think Tank are predominantly practitioners rather than academics.
Member of the Think Tank are drawn from the ranks of committed Islamic finance professionals around the world and range from the Gulf and the Far East to the USA and Europe.

Each issue of So Far is dedicated to a single topic of core importance to the Islamic finance industry – and the launch issue looks at the thorny issue of the problems facing the Sukuk market. Unlike many other journals So Far is distributed free in PDF format and is available from a variety of sources including Yasaar Media thus guaranteeing maximum readership and exposure.

On March 1, 2010 after many months of work, ISDA (the International Swaps and Derivatives Association) and IIFM (International Islamic Financial Market) jointly issued the first Shari'ah-compliant master agreement for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.[1] Styled the "ISDA / IIFM Ta'Hawwut Master Agreement" (ta'hawwut signifies "hedging" in Arabic), the new template master agreement (the "Ta'Hawwut Agreement") provides a framework for the expansion of derivatives activity in the Middle East, South Asia and many regions throughout the world where hedging is not currently standard practice due to ethical concerns. While based on the 2002 ISDA Master Agreement (the "2002 Master Agreement") and with many terms familiar to participants in swap markets, the Ta'Hawwut Agreement has been developed under the guidance and approval of the IIFM Shari'ah Advisory Panel. The Ta'Hawwut Agreement is therefore expected to be used as a reference for market participants where they or their customers need to hedge risks in line with Shari'ah principles.

IslamicFinance.de has created a fanpage on Facebook - for all the users wishing to follow the news abstracts on the Facebook platform. Please join and enjoy!

The global economy is facing a deep downturn as a result of the crisis. It was due to excessive
ability to create money and credit for earning increasing profits without creating anything of
value for use by the mankind. The system needs radical change in the approach, principles and
the operation of economic and financial systems. Creation of money, and lending it on interest –
interest based debts and financial obligations leading to undue receivables for the lenders, is
the biggest and primary problem of the conventional system. Islamic principles of finance
provide checks for the factors that have distorted the system. Enhanced supply of risk-related
capital, restricted risk taking, balanced return rate structure based on the real sector economic
activities, and supply of money commensurate with prospects of growth in an economy, provide
a sound basis for sustainable development. Hence, Islamic financial institutions and markets
have better ability to sustain in the hard times. Islamic banking industry should not only have
escaped unharmed during the crisis, it should also have availed the opportunity of developing

"The current economic crisis should warn us to fundamentally rethink the development of the moral framework
and the regulatory mechanisms that underpin our economy, politics and global interconnectedness. It would be a wasted opportunity for all of us if we pretended that the crisis was simply a momentary hurdle. If we want to keep society together, then a sense of community and solidarity are more important now than ever before.The most fundamental question today is whether we can adopt a more communitarian spirit or whether we will fall back into old habits and excesses, thereby further undermining social peace.

This Report, Faith and the Global Agenda:Values for the Post-Crisis Economy, produced by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Georgetown University, is the first effort of its kind, seeking to enhance understanding of the values that will be vital for our collective future and the positive role that faith plays in articulating those values."

Download at:

https://www.weforum.org/pdf/faith/valuesreport.pdf

The GCC Takaful report caters to investors looking for investment opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Takaful (Islamic Insurance) industry. The focus of the report is on opportunities and challenges for growth of the industry, industry trends, financial performance, valuations, stock liquidity and governance & transparency.

Alpen Capital expects the GCC Takaful industry:

• to grow at a CAGR of approximately 16.1% per annum in 2009 to 2012.

• to continue to grow faster than conventional insurance.

Full details of the findings are in the report for download at the below source.

Mittwoch | 28.10.2009 | 19:00 Uhr
Islamisches Finanzsystem: (k)eine ernsthafte Alternative?
Dipl.-Kfm. Michael Saleh Gassner | Zürich

Die Finanzkrise erschüttert zurzeit die Grundlagen der globalen Finanzordnung. Analysten und Ökonomen suchen weltweit nach Möglichkeiten für eine Stabilisierung der Märkte. Islamic Finance heißt das Stichwort, das eine Alternative anbieten könnte.

Das islamische Finanzsystem orientiert sich an rechtlichen und ethischen Maßstäben, die auf soziale und ökonomische Verteilungsgerechtigkeit abzielen. Auch wenn seit einigen Jahrzehnten ein starker Anstieg des islamischen Bankwesens in der westlichen Welt zu verzeichnen ist, bleibt das Marktpotential in Deutschland noch weitestgehend unerschlossen.

Wie lässt sich die Finanzkrise aus islamischer Sicht erklären? Welche Alternativen stehen zur Verfügung? Wie sind die aktuell angebotenen islamischen Finanzprodukte weltweit und im Speziellen in Deutschland zu bewerten? Diese und viele andere Fragen lassen sich am Vortagsabend vom Finanzexperten Michael Gassner beantworten.

Der Vortrag auf Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OimpEXjxMxc

Abstract

This unique study discusses the theory of taxation in Islam and the role of Zakat in an Islamic economy. Zakat is a compulsory payment i.e. a tax in this sense paid to the government on one’s income and wealth. The Zakat rates are studied for their viability and effectiveness to fulfill fiscal needs of the government. Based on the evidence from many countries, it is argued that Zakat rates are substantial enough to generate the needed public finance given the large tax base and free the government from using seignorage and deficit financing. Its compulsory nature both as per law of the land and as per religion would ensure minimum tax evasion and its progressive and direct nature would effectively redistribute income. The effect of Zakat on the overall macroeconomy, the financial system, monetary system, property market, stock market, inflation, foreign debt, balance of payments, FDI and the on the development oriented variables like inequality and poverty are also discussed to give a holistic view of the effects of the proposed system.

Shaikh, Salman

Abstract

Abstract

The Financial Times produced a special looking into the Future of Islamic Finance.

The download is free of charge.

The Central Council of Muslims in Germany presented on the BAFIN Islamic Finance conference how mortgages for the Muslim community could look like, how large the market is and challenged the perception that there would be a need to change laws to avoid double real estate transfer tax; it shall rather work tax efficient with proper structuring and without changes. Hence, financial institutions are asked to provide equity and debt based mortgages for the Muslim market.

"South Africa and the Arab northern region has had some limited interest from investors and
economists globally, but everything in between has been seen as a basket-case and lost to the world. Is
there any change in sight? Michael Gassner looks at what is happening on the continent in terms of
Islamic finance."

Full article for free download: