It is anticipated that the South African taxation legislation governing the specific elements around Murabaha and Sukuk will be extended to cover listed companies, effective in January.
The government has followed through on their intention of ensuring Islamic financial arrangements accessibility to “other” entities (over and above just sovereign government itself and state-owned entities) to also allow for an alternate additional source to raise capital.
Over the last few years, the government has introduced Islamic compliant financial structures in stages. With the first of such introductions coming through in the Taxation Laws Amendment Act of 2010 – “the Act” that recognised for the first time arrangements like Diminishing Musharaka, Murabaha and Mudaraba as alternates to their conventional counterparts – these amendments were effected to enable banks to offer a Shari’ah compliant product.
In 2011 further amendments to the same act were effected, wherein Sukuk was introduced. However, issuance was limited to the sovereign government. Later on, effective from April 2015, Sukuk issuance was extended to state-owned entities.
The latest proposed amendment to the act regarding listed companies, which takes effect at the beginning of next year, will now almost complete the assortment of entities that would be allowed to offer and/or issue Islamic financial products.