IslamicFinance.de

Gasprombank is building support for Sukuk but Russian legislation is missing. Executives from Gazprombank have been collecting interest in South East Asia. It seems that Alexander Kazakov, director of structured and syndicated finance at the bank, is claiming up to five companies were interested in Sukuk issuance.
AmanahRaya is also working to establish Kaz Haj, a pilgrimage fund, along with Kazakhstan's Islamic asset management company, Fattah Finance.
On the other hand, Aznan Hasan, Associate Professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia, warns that Russia will need to address its legal framework before Shari’ah-compliant transactions can go ahead.

Malaysian trustee company Amanah Raya Berhad is joining forces with Fattah Finance and the state-owned Development Bank of Kazakhstan to conduct a feasibility study to establish the second Islamic bank in the CIS country. Their purpose is to submit an application for an Islamic-banking license later this year under new legislation introduced by Kazakhstan in 2009 to facilitate the establishment of Islamic banks and the introduction of Islamic financial products in the country.

Fattah Finance was launched in March, immediately after Kazakhstan's law on Islamic finance came into force.
A subsidiary of Almaty-based financial services provider Almaty Financial Centre, Fattah currently offers only brokerage services, but plans to expand its range of activities later this year as it grows its team. It offers its clients shares that are listed both in Kazakhstan and in other markets. "It doesn't matter where the shares are listed, only whether they are Sharia compliant or not," says Ussenzhan Turdiev, head of Fattah's information and analysis department.

The full interview by Clare Nuttal can be read via the link below.