IslamicFinance.de

Qatar has taken the lead in reaching out to Malaysia and Turkey through which the country aims to be the dominant player in the global Shariah financial landscape. Under the proposed plan, Turkey would cover Islamic finance needs in Europe, Qatar would serve the greater Middle East and North Africa and Malaysia will continue to serve the Asian markets. The London Stock Exchange is currently a global venue for the issuance of sukuk, while Hong Kong and Luxembourg have also made inroads but Qatar believes the market should be led by Muslim countries. Qatar Financial Center (QFC) Authority CEO Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida has a vision to cover the entire globe’s Islamic financial transactions between three financial centres, Doha, Istanbul and Malaysia, therefore he sees a need to share platforms and technology.

According to a Qatar Financial Center (QFC) study, Qatar needs to reform interbank liquidity management to study leakages from Islamic banks through interbank finance. Moreover, there is also a need to develop a regulatory framework and promote green bonds and sukuk. So far Qatar has led the world in ensuring in the authenticity of Shariah-compliant bank assets with Qatar Central Bank and the QFC Regulatory Authority requirements separating Islamic and conventional banks. To ensure this segregation, there should be a review of interbank markets to limit flows from Islamic banks to conventional ones in their liquidity management operations using 'Murabaha'. The report also stressed the role of a centralised guidance on fit and proper criteria for Shariah scholars and promoting Fintech development.