IslamicFinance.de

The Bahrain-based International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) launched a standard contract template for sharia compliant cross currency swaps on Thursday, as the industry body seeks to enhance use of hedging tools in the sector. As Islamic finance grows, institutions are increasingly taking larger positions, often in various currencies, prompting the need for widely-accepted mechanisms to manage such risks.
It is the seventh standard issued by the IIFM, a non-profit industry body which develops specifications for Islamic finance contracts. Applications of the standard are mainly for interbank treasury placements, but it can also be used alongside Islamic bonds (sukuk) as well as trade and corporate finance deals, chief executive Ijlal Ahmed Alvi told Reuters.

The Bahrain-based International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) will develop contract templates for sharia-compliant corporate finance and trade finance transactions, as the industry body expands its mandate. IIFM is aiming to double the number of its standards by as early as next year. The new standards would help broaden the scope of IIFM, as the body works to harmonise industry practices, said Khalid Hamad, executive director of banking supervision at Bahrain's central bank and IIFM chairman. Trade finance has remained a marginal business for Islamic banks even as other areas have boomed in recent years, partly because of a lack of scale and expertise compared to larger and more established Western banks.

The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) released its IIFM Sukuk Report (4th Edition) at the IIFM Seminar held on the pre-conference day of the 21st World Islamic Banking Conference. The research report consists of a comprehensive study of the global Sukuk market and sheds light on the growth, trends and development of international and domestic Sukuk issuances for the period January 2001 - July 2014. The report contains selected Sukuk case studies in the international Sukuk market providing deeper understanding of the mechanism and uniqueness of some of the structures. It is freely downloadable from www.iifm.net

The International Islamic Financial Market is working on common templates for structuring sukuk to reduce delays caused by disagreements between Shariah scholars. The standards-setting body is drafting frameworks starting with leasing contracts known as Ijara. Bahrain- based IIFM is responding to feedback from members including the Islamic Development Bank and the Malaysian and Saudi Arabian monetary authorities. Having a unified set of standards would make the market more cost-effective and efficient. Moreover, the templates may also help address an international shortage of scholars. Enterprises with a global presence may be encouraged to explore sukuk issuance versus conventional if the standards are more widely accepted.

The International Islamic Financial Market ( IIFM ) held its 30th Board of Directors meeting at Bank Indonesia's headquarters in Jakarta. The Board commended IIFM efforts in holding two successful industry consultative meetings on Sukuk standardization requirements from documentation, structures and guidelines point of view which were very well attended by industry stakeholders. Moreover, IIFM aims is to come up with more standards as per its well established comprehensive development process, some of which will be issued during 2014 and in the next year. On the sidelines of the Board meeting, a specialized industry seminar on "Islamic Capital & Money Market" was also organized, discussing the technical aspects of Sukuk, Islamic hedging and liquidity management tools.

The Bahrain-based International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) will develop its first standard contract template for sukuk, and aims to double the number of its standards as early as next year. A standard for leasing-based sukuk will be developed first by the IIFM to help harmonise industry practices, said chief executive Ijlal Ahmad Alvi. The move comes after a consultation meeting in Dubai this week which identified a need for guidelines covering the ijara sukuk structure as a priority. A work group will also study other common sukuk structures such as mudaraba, wakala and musharaka, as well as convertible and exchangeable sukuk. The ijara sukuk standard could be ready by the end of this year at the earliest.

At the 4th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2013) in Singapore, Bahrain based international standard-setting body the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) announced the launch of IIFM Inter-Bank Unrestricted Master Investment Wakalah Agreement. This global standard document is supplemented with an Operational Guidance Memorandum. It is developed to be used in the Islamic inter-bank market between financial institutions in order to manage their liquidity requirements. It is also aimed to minimise the over reliance on the use of the Commodity Murabaha in the inter-bank market transactions. The key main features of this Agreement is that the Investor, the Muwakkil, will appoint the Wakil as its Agent to invest its funds in a Shari’ah compliant manner in exchange for a fee.

The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) has released its IIFM Sukuk Report (3rd Edition) which consists of A Comprehensive Study of the Global Sukuk Market. The research report sheds light on the growth and development of international and domestic Sukuk issuances from 2001 - Jan 2013. According to Mr. Ijlal Ahmed Alvi, Chief Executive Officer of IIFM, the last two years were record years of Sukuk issuances. This year has also started on a positive note and the growth trend is expected to continue in coming years, he added. The report also highlights the different Sukuk structures used by international Sukuk issuers as well as Sukuk structures used at domestic level by various jurisdictions active in issuing Sukuk. Moreover, it contains selected Sukuk case studies in the international Sukuk market and the clarification on the meaning and types of Sukuk Al Istithmar (Investment Sukuk).

The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) is progressing on a variety of Sharia products issued. This was made known at their 27th board meeting which was hosted by Kuwait Finance House - Bahrain in Manama. The mentioned products include Interbank Unrestricted Wakalah standards, Islamic Currency Hedging product standards and Collateralised (Rahn) Product Standard. Moreover, the board reached an agreement on the initiation of several new standards among which Ijarah sukuk standardisation as well as consultation on credit support arrangement concerning Islamic hedging.

International Islamic Financial Market wishes to announce the appointment of Mr. Mahmoud AbuShamma as its first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a three-year tenure effective 1 February 2011.
Mr. Mahmoud will lead a team of Islamic finance experts and professionals to operationalise the IILM's Mr. Mahmoud has served as the Global Head of HSBC Amanah Coverage at HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, Dubai in charge of critical HSBC Amanah relationships globally, including Governments, high networth individuals and top corporate clients.

The report pointed out that Kuwait ranked first among the GCC countries in terms Islamic banks assets to total banking assets, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE have risen among the countries that promote Islamic finance products and services. It added that there are many opportunities still available for Islamic finance solutions in the region where real estate finance tops other areas of interest prevalent in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The existence of financial centers in Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE, as well as a number of Islamic finance organizations such as the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, Liquidity Management Centre, and the International Islamic Financial Market will continue to attract new players to the region and further propel the Islamic banking industry to greater heights.

The International Islamic Financial Market, the Bahrain-based organization seeking to set standards for Islamic securities, may issue new global guidelines to facilitate the sale of Shariah-compliant bonds, an official at the industry body said.

Talal Malik reported on 7 April 2008 that the Bahrain-based International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) said to finalise soon the standardisation for a Master Murabaha Agreement called Master Agreement for Treasury Placement (MATP). The Agreements are under final review by Sharia scholars.

Khalid Hamad is chairman of IIFM.

Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/515834-bahrains-iifm-drawing-up-islamic-f...