IslamicFinance.de

A team lead by Ashurst finance partner Jamie Ng has completed the first Shari’ah compliant murabaha in Australia.

The structured financing arrangement funded by ANZ enabled a commodity transaction to finance an interest in a Melbourne property at 747 Collins St, by one of Malaysia’s largest pension funds, Tabung Haji. Ashurst acted for investment manager CIMB-TrustCapital, as well as Tabung Haji on the deal.

“Shari'ah compliant financings can be complex and involve parallel consideration of various Shari'ah structuring, legal and taxation issues to produce an outcome that is not only viable, but which is commercially and legally robust,” Ng told Australasian Lawyer.

The demand for Shari’ah compliant financing, particularly in the real estate sector, is a growing trend driven by both Australian and off shore investors, according to Ng.

“We are seeing a considerable degree of interest in Shari'ah compliant on-shore financing products, and we have fielded an influx of enquiries from offshore investment vehicles out of the Middle East and Asia wanting to know more about the structures available in Australia,” he said.