tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73104613025623843412024-03-13T15:56:36.199+08:00Islamic Finance MalaysiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-67322650092605940732019-10-17T07:36:00.000+08:002019-10-17T15:37:12.570+08:00Islamic finance & management events in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 2019 & 2020<div style="margin: 0cm;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj93sjWZCKF-GrkS-EdF4WGe_2_2K4RcHWhfgmC-gE0NwCG_qnbAiSU30rrSweptr8KdU0BwlnFIbH2g1a01ts4uD02M4DUqUkc1m3E6wlb1Sr4B7XpALzzsXKX9ynvlxh3R1CklwON84/s1600/Alfalah+Consulting+-+Register+online+-+general+-+no+year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj93sjWZCKF-GrkS-EdF4WGe_2_2K4RcHWhfgmC-gE0NwCG_qnbAiSU30rrSweptr8KdU0BwlnFIbH2g1a01ts4uD02M4DUqUkc1m3E6wlb1Sr4B7XpALzzsXKX9ynvlxh3R1CklwON84/s1600/Alfalah+Consulting+-+Register+online+-+general+-+no+year.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">CONFERENCES</span></b><br />
<b><br /></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Date: 17-18 December 2019</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Event: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">KL Conference on Islamic Finance 2019</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Event site: </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://islamic-finance-conference.blogspot.com/">www.islamic-finance-conference.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Date: 21-22 January 2020</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Event: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">KL Conference on Islamic Wealth Management & Financial Planning 2020</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Event site: <a href="http://www.islamic-wealth-management.blogspot.com/">www.islamic-wealth-management.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">►</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/p/registration-form.html" target="_blank">Register</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Date: 17-18 March 2020</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Event: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">KL Conference on Shariah & Legal Aspects of Islamic Finance 2020</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Event site: <a href="http://www.shariah-legal-islamic-finance.blogspot.com/">www.shariah-legal-islamic-finance.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">►</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/p/registration-form.html" target="_blank">Register</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Date: 17-18 April 2020</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Event: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">KL Conference on Sukuk 2020</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Event site: </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.sukuk-conference.blogspot.com/">www.sukuk-conference.blogspot.com</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">►</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/p/registration-form.html" target="_blank">Register</a></span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">To register or reserve a seat online, please go to</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/p/registration-form.html">http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/p/registration-form.html</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Organizer: Alfalah Consulting</span><br />
<span style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-30744009875999129092019-10-16T07:27:00.000+08:002019-10-17T07:35:11.213+08:00Islamic finance and markets in Malaysia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTTndXaTD09jasxHeLqkZlLJGZXf2Ir58lLMgvNPxAca4QMNxz-nxyVsEeQ5Bim57S2fr9zhYbU6eNgQS7_cS74W_m_5EDMENJHwFg_ydgtNXAwzoxyOUsbCJTv1IpNgUavm8GUxyenat/s1600/Kuala-Lumpur-Malaysia_Islamic_finance_Islamic_banking_Halal_Shariah_compliance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="1024" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTTndXaTD09jasxHeLqkZlLJGZXf2Ir58lLMgvNPxAca4QMNxz-nxyVsEeQ5Bim57S2fr9zhYbU6eNgQS7_cS74W_m_5EDMENJHwFg_ydgtNXAwzoxyOUsbCJTv1IpNgUavm8GUxyenat/s400/Kuala-Lumpur-Malaysia_Islamic_finance_Islamic_banking_Halal_Shariah_compliance.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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By Christoper & Lee Ong (16.10.2019)<br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Overview</u></strong></div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Policies</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">In general terms, what policy has your jurisdiction adopted towards Islamic finance? Are Islamic finance products regulated differently from conventional instruments? What has been the legislative approach?</strong></div>
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Malaysia adopts a ‘dual banking system’ policy in which its Islamic finance industry operates on a parallel basis with its conventional counter-parts within a fundamentally similar financial infrastructure.</div>
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Islamic finance products are regulated differently from the conventional instruments as Islamic finance products are heavily scrutinised and screened by shariah scholars or committees to ensure that they reflect the true nature of the shariah principles that they represent.</div>
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The dual banking system model has led to the enactment of the Financial Services Act 2013 (FSA) and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (IFSA). Both the FSA and the IFSA took effect on 30 June 2013.</div>
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The FSA repealed and consolidated the provisions of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989, Exchange Control Act 1953, Insurance Act 1996 and Payment Systems Act 2003, to streamline the regulatory structure of the financial sector in Malaysia. The FSA enhanced the powers of the Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM) to provide the much-needed oversight of the money market and foreign exchange market with a view to promoting financial stability. The FSA provides regulation and supervision of, among others, financial institutions, operators of payment systems, issuers of designated payment instruments and insurers.</div>
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The IFSA repealed and consolidated the Islamic Banking Act 1983 and Takaful Act 1984. It sets out extensively a legal framework governing the Islamic financial institutions, operators of payment systems, issuers of designated Islamic payment instruments and takaful operators. One of the IFSA’s principal regulatory objectives is to promote compliance with shariah. The IFSA has made it mandatory that each licensed person establishes an internal shariah committee for the purpose of ensuring that the business, affairs and activities of the licensed person comply with shariah requirements at all times.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Market development</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">How well established is Islamic finance in your jurisdiction? Are Islamic windows permitted in your jurisdiction?</strong></div>
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Islamic finance is very well established in Malaysia.</div>
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Under the Interest Free Banking Scheme introduced by the BNM in 1993 (which was later changed to the Islamic Banking Scheme), conventional banks were permitted to establish Islamic windows to provide Islamic banking business leveraging on their existing infrastructure and branches. Banks participating in the Islamic Banking Scheme were required to set up an Islamic Banking Division at their head office to oversee the overall operations of the Islamic windows. The Islamic windows approach received wide acceptance and significantly increased the conventional banks’ participation in the Islamic banking industry, which subsequently led to the BNM’s call for the establishment of ‘Islamic subsidiaries’ aimed at providing greater focus, resources, autonomy and governance for Islamic financial institutions. As a matter of policy, conventional banks were encouraged to subsequently convert the Islamic windows into Islamic subsidiaries, operating under the auspices of a separate Islamic banking licence and regulatory framework.</div>
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As an alternative, licensed institutions such as commercial banks and investment banks are also permitted to conduct a wide range of Islamic banking business (in international currencies other than the Malaysian ringgit), through the establishment of an International Currency Business Unit (ICBU). An ICBU is required to establish a dedicated division headed by a senior management officer to carry out Islamic banking business in international currencies of the ICBU. The division is required to also maintain separate accounts from the Malaysian ringgit transactions of the entity. To ensure that the Islamic banking activities conducted through the ICBU are shariah-compliant, the ICBU of a commercial bank and an investment bank may leverage on the shariah committee established by the entity at a group level, or engage the service of external shariah advisers.</div>
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Based on the monthly highlights and statistics published by the BNM, as at May 2019 the approximate size of the Islamic banking system in Malaysia was as follows:</div>
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<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Total assets (million Malaysian ringgit)</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Total financings (million Malaysian ringgit)</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Total deposits (million Malaysian ringgit)</div>
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<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Islamic banks</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
730,928.1</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
548,639.4</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
549,685.0</div>
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<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Banks operating through the Islamic Banking Scheme</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
17,048.8</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
6,341.1</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
10,976.8</div>
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Total</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
747,976.9</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
554,980.5</div>
</td><td style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
560,681.8</div>
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Islamic funds and Islamic products are widely offered by financial institutions in Malaysia. Conventional financiers also offer a wide range of investment options in businesses dealing with goods and services that are considered sinful (haram).</div>
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There have been listings of sukuk on local exchanges. Based on the statistics published by the Securities Commission (SC), as of 31 December 2017 there were 47 sukuk programmes currently listed on Bursa Malaysia.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Legislation</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">What is the main legislation relevant to Islamic banking, capital markets and insurance?</strong></div>
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The main legislation governing Islamic banking and insurance (takaful) is the IFSA. The IFSA imposes an express obligation on a licensed institution to ensure at all times that its aims and operations, business, affairs and activities are in compliance with shariah. An internal shariah committee is tasked to ensure this objective is achieved. The BNM is empowered under the IFSA to specify standards and issue guidelines on shariah matters. The BNM has issued a Shariah Governance Framework for Islamic financial institutions laying down the fundamental principles upon which an Islamic financial institution and takaful operator should organise and arrange its shariah governance structure.</div>
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The IFSA contains substantially similar provisions to those in the FSA, such as those relating to governance and prudential matters, business conduct and consumer protection, as well as ownership, control and transfer of business. This lays the foundation in reshaping the financial landscape of Malaysia where the Islamic banks and the takaful operators are able to compete with their conventional counterparts on a level playing field.</div>
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The Islamic capital market in Malaysia falls under the ambit of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA), which is administered by the SC. Any person carrying on a business in any ‘regulated activity’, namely dealing in securities, dealing in derivatives, fund management, advising on corporate finance, investment advice, financial planning and dealing in private retirement schemes, needs to be licensed unless he or she is a registered person. In addition, the CMSA covers, among others, provisions relating to the offering and issue of securities, market misconduct and insider trading. In discharging its duty, the SC is assisted by the Shariah Advisory Council (SCSAC) established under the Securities Commission Malaysia Act 1993 as the principal authority to ascertain the application of shariah principles for the purpose of Islamic capital market businesses or transactions. The CMSA expressly states that the courts or the arbitrators shall take into consideration any rulings published by the SCSAC for proceedings relating to Islamic capital market business or transactions, and such rulings are binding on the courts or arbitrators. In the event that the rulings made by the SCSAC contravene the rulings made by a registered shariah adviser engaged for Islamic capital market business or transactions, the rulings made by the SCSAC shall prevail. The SCSAC has issued shariah resolutions on various shariah concepts, Islamic capital market products and related issues, in line with the robust growth of the Islamic capital market in Malaysia.</div>
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To better facilitate Islamic capital market transactions, an electronic commodity trading platform, namely the Bursa Suq Al-Sila’, was established to provide an additional avenue where the Islamic financial institutions may source shariah-compliant commodities to effect financings which are based on the principle of commodity murabahah. Currently, there are four commodities (which have been approved by SCSAC) being traded or made available for trading on the platform, namely, crude palm oil, plastic resin, refined, bleached and deodorised palm olein, and timber.</div>
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The Federal Territory of Labuan has been designated as an International Business and Financial Centre (IBFC) to complement the financial services sector in Malaysia through its robust regulatory and supervisory framework, which is in compliance with international standards and practices, and a simple and attractive tax system.</div>
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The Islamic financial services and securities industry in Labuan IBFC is governed by the Labuan Islamic Financial Services and Securities Act 2010 (LIFSSA) and administered by the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA). The LIFSSA sets out, among others, a licensing framework for those providing investment advice or administrative services for the purposes of investment, Islamic banking business and takaful operators. Similar to the IFSA, the LIFSSA imposes an express obligation on a licensed and regulated entity to establish a shariah advisory board or appoint a qualified person as a shariah adviser, in order to ensure that its business activities are in compliance with shariah principles. It is worthwhile to note that the LIFSSA contains provisions regarding the establishment of new types of legal entities such as Islamic private and public funds, Islamic trusts, Islamic foundations, Islamic limited partnerships and Islamic limited liability partnerships.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Supervision</u></strong></div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Principal authorities</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Which are the principal authorities charged with the oversight of banking, capital markets and insurance products?</strong></div>
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The BNM is the principal authority charged with the oversight of banking and insurance products, while the capital markets fall under the purview of the SC.</div>
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The LFSA is the principal authority charged with the oversight of the financial sector in Labuan IBFC.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Guidance</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Identify any notable guidance, policy statements or regulations issued by the regulators or other authorities specifically relevant to Islamic finance.</strong></div>
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The BNM advocates a ‘two-tier’ shariah governance structure made up of a centralised shariah advisory body (ie, the SAC, established under the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009 (CBA)) and the internal shariah committee formed under the IFSA. Should there be any contradiction between rulings made by the shariah committee and the SAC, the rulings of the SAC prevail. This reinforces the rule that the SAC is the highest shariah authority in Islamic finance in Malaysia for the ascertainment of Islamic law in Islamic financial business. The courts and arbitrators are also required to take into consideration any rulings published by the SAC for proceedings relating to Islamic financial business, and such rulings are binding.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Central authority</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Is there a central authority responsible for ensuring that transactions or products are shariah-compliant? Are IFIs required to set up shariah supervisory boards? May third parties, related parties or fund sponsors provide supervisory board services or must the board be internal?</strong></div>
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Yes, the SAC established by the BNM under the CBA is the central authority for ensuring that transactions or financial products for Islamic banking and takaful industry are shariah-compliant. The SCSAC established by the SC under the CMSA is the principal authority for ensuring that the Islamic capital market businesses or transactions are shariah-compliant.</div>
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It is a mandatory requirement under the IFSA that the Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) set up an internal shariah committee.</div>
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Third parties, related parties or fund sponsors may be engaged to provide supervisory board services, subject to the relevant regulatory approvals.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Board approval</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Do members of an institution’s shariah supervisory board require regulatory approval? Are there any other requirements for supervisory board members?</strong></div>
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Yes, under the IFSA, no person shall be appointed or accept an appointment as a member of a shariah committee unless such person obtains the approval of the BNM. Such person must also fulfil the ‘fit and proper’ criteria and such other conditions as may be imposed by the BNM.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Authorisation</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">What are the requirements for Islamic banks to be authorised to carry out business in your jurisdiction?</strong></div>
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Islamic banks must have a valid licence under the IFSA. In addition, Islamic banks are required to comply with all the guidelines, circulars or directives issued by the BNM or the SC, as the case may be, from time to time.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Foreign involvement</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">May foreign institutions offer Islamic banking and capital markets services in your jurisdiction? Under what conditions?</strong></div>
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Foreign institutions may offer Islamic banking services in Malaysia with a valid licence under the IFSA. In assessing a licence application under the IFSA, some of the factors which the BNM will take into consideration are:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.7em;">whether the aims and operations of the business will involve any element which is contrary to shariah; and</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.7em;">the reputation of the applicant for being operated in a manner consistent with the standards of good governance and integrity.</li>
</ul>
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The BNM imposes various conditions on institutions licensed under the IFSA, such as the requirement to maintain minimum capital funds or surplus of assets over liabilities. There is also a mandatory requirement to put in place a capital adequacy and financial reporting framework which is in compliance with the standards prescribed by the BNM.</div>
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With respect to Islamic capital market services, such business activities are regulated under the CMSA. Domestic and foreign Islamic banks licensed under the IFSA are permitted to carry out certain regulated activities such as dealing in securities, providing corporate finance advice, providing investment advice and fund management. However, the scope of these services is limited to those provided for under Schedule 4 of the CMSA.</div>
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No passporting is permitted under Malaysian law. The following options are available for foreign institutions that are not licensed under the IFSA, but nevertheless wish to offer Islamic capital market services in Malaysia:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.7em;">the foreign institution may apply for a capital market services licence (CMSL) under the CMSA;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.7em;">the foreign institution may carry on such regulated activity through its related corporation in Malaysia which is a CMSL holder; or</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.7em;">the foreign institution may carry on such regulated activity through its collaboration with a non-related corporation that is a CMSL holder.</li>
</ul>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Takaful and retakaful operators</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">What are the requirements for takaful and retakaful operators to gain admission to do business in your jurisdiction?</strong></div>
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Takaful and retakaful operators must have a valid licence under the IFSA to gain admission to do business in Malaysia.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Foreign operators</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">How can foreign takaful operators become admitted? Can foreign takaful or retakaful operators carry out business in your jurisdiction as non-admitted insurers? Is fronting a possibility?</strong></div>
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Foreign takaful operators can carry on takaful business in Malaysia with a valid licence under the IFSA.</div>
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Alternatively, if a foreign takaful operator’s business matches the description of licensed business under the IFSA, it may establish a representative office (RO) in Malaysia to carry out a list of permissible activities as prescribed by the BNM, such as to undertake research, collection and analysis of important market information or feasibility studies on investment and business opportunities in Malaysia.</div>
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In assessing an RO application, the BNM shall consider various factors such as the applicant’s financial position and reputation and its potential contribution in Malaysia.</div>
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Foreign takaful or retakaful operators are not permitted to carry on business in Malaysia as non-admitted (unlicensed) insurers. No fronting is allowed in Malaysia.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Disclosure and reporting</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Are there any specific disclosure or reporting requirements for takaful, sukuk and Islamic funds?</strong></div>
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Yes. The BNM and the SC issue guidelines from time to time specifying specific disclosure or reporting requirements for takaful, sukuk and Islamic funds.</div>
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Takaful operators are required to disclose to the BNM information on their policies and procedures for managing product risks including specific information on their IT systems. There are also specific financial reporting requirements imposed on takaful operators under the IFSA and BNM guidelines to ensure that the financial statements of takaful operators are prepared based on the standards set by the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards.</div>
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Sukuk issuers are required to comply with the Lodge and Launch Framework issued by the SC, which requires disclosure of various information relating to the sukuk, such as the shariah principles used and the utilisation of the proceeds.</div>
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The SC has issued various guidelines relating to funds management, and there are specific reporting requirements which are also applicable to Islamic funds, which include disclosure of information relating to the assets under management, details of breaches of securities laws and regulations and steps taken to remedy and prevent such breaches, and the shariah governance framework in place.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Sanctions and remedies</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">What are the sanctions and remedies available when products have been falsely marketed as shariah-compliant?</strong></div>
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The IFSA imposes an express obligation on the licensed institution to ensure that its aims, operations, business, affairs and activities are in compliance with shariah. If the licensed institution has falsely marketed its financial products as shariah-compliant, it shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eight years or a fine not exceeding 25 million Malaysian ringgit, or both.</div>
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Under the CMSA, such an offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding 3 million Malaysian ringgit or both.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Jurisdiction in disputes</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Which courts, tribunals or other bodies have jurisdiction to hear Islamic finance disputes?</strong></div>
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The civil courts have jurisdiction to hear Islamic finance disputes. Alternatively, the contracting parties can opt to settle their disputes by arbitration. The Asian International Arbitration Centre (previously known as the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration) provides specific rules relating to Islamic banking and financial services transactions.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Contracting concepts</u></strong></div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Accommodation of concepts</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mudarabah - profit sharing partnership separating responsibility for capital investment and management.</strong></div>
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As part of its efforts to ensure that the practices and procedures adopted by market players conform to shariah standards, the BNM is responsible for, and issues from time to time, policy documents setting out various ‘standards’ (ie, requirements that must be complied with by licensed institutions where failure to comply may result in enforcement action being taken), and ‘guidance notes’ (ie, recommendations intended to promote common understanding and sound industry practice which are encouraged to be adopted). The policy documents issued by the BNM were in respect of various Islamic principles including mudarabah, murabahah, musharakah, ijarah and wadiah.</div>
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Under the Guidelines on Unlisted Capital Market Products under the Lodge and Launch Framework issued by the SC on 9 March 2015 (revised on 11 October 2018), the SC explicitly recognises mudarabah, murabahah, musharakah, ijarah and wadiah as approved shariah principles and concepts for unlisted capital market products.</div>
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The BNM issued a policy document in April 2015 to provide reference on the shariah rulings associated with mudarabah and set out key operational requirements with regard to the implementation of mudarabah, such as governance and oversight, structuring, risk management and financial reporting.</div>
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The BNM recognises two types of mudarabah: the unrestricted mudarabah, which permits the mudarib to manage the mudarabah capital without any specific restrictions; and the restricted mudarabah, where the rab-al-mal imposes specific restrictions on the mudarabah terms.</div>
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In a mudarabah contract, profit is shared between a rab-al-mal and a mudarib based on a ratio mutually agreed between them. Loss, if any, is borne by a rab-al-mal up to the capital value. A mudarib shall not be liable for any impairment of asset unless such loss is due to its misconduct, negligence or breach of specified terms of the contract. A mudarib is not permitted to guarantee the capital or the profit. However, the rab-al-mal may request collateral from the mudarib, which can only be enforced in the event of the mudarib’s misconduct, negligence or breach of terms of the contract.</div>
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The mudarabah contract is widely used in structuring products that are classified as investment accounts. Under the IFSA, the investment account is distinguished from an Islamic deposit and is defined as an account under which money is paid and accepted for the purposes of investment in accordance with shariah principles on terms that there are no express or implied obligations to repay the money in full. The BNM issued a policy document on investment accounts in October 2017 setting out specific requirements on the structuring, risk management and market conduct of investment accounts, and the oversight requirements over the management of investment account funds and investment assets.</div>
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In venture capital funding, an Islamic financial institution may share both profit and risk in a participatory arrangement provided that the investors are fully informed of all the risks inherent in such venture.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Murabahah - cost plus profit agreement.</strong></div>
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The policy document issued by the BNM in December 2013 recognised both the murabahah contract and murabahah to the purchase orderer arrangement (MPO). Murabahah is expressly defined as a sale and purchase of an asset where the acquisition cost and mark-up are disclosed to the purchaser. The MPO is defined as an arrangement whereby the purchase orderer promises to purchase an identified and specified asset from a seller on murabahah terms upon the latter’s acquisition of the asset. Pursuant to the policy document, a bank may buy an asset and resell it at a profit, while allowing the buyer to settle the bank’s selling price on a cash or deferred (instalment) basis.</div>
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The bank can also ask for collateral to secure the purchaser’s payment obligations. Based on the policy document, the collateral must be a shariah-compliant asset, although an interest-bearing debt-based asset such as conventional fixed deposit certificates may be used as collateral provided that it is valued up to the principal amount.</div>
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In November 2015, the BNM issued a policy document on tawarruq recognising the concept of tawarruq in the provision of finance via two sale and purchase contracts. The first involves the sale of an asset by a seller to a purchaser on a deferred basis. Subsequently, the purchaser of the first sale will sell the same asset to a third party on a cash and spot basis. The concept of tawarruq is widely used in structuring sukuk in Malaysia, whereby the underlying assets are generally the commodity sourced from the commodity trading platform, Bursa Suq Al-Sila’. See question 3 for more information on Bursa Suq Al-Sila’.</div>
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In December 2018, the BNM re-issued the policy document on tawarruq removing the submission requirements to Jabatan Perbankan Islam dan Takaful, which is an arm of the BNM on the implementation plan of tawarruq.</div>
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In terms of the tax implications, any gains or profits received and expenses incurred pursuant to the disposal of an asset by or to a person, pursuant to a scheme of financing approved by the SC, are exempted from tax provided that the scheme is in accordance with the principles of shariah and such disposal is required for the purpose of complying with those principles.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Musharakah - profit sharing joint venture partnership agreement.</strong></div>
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The BNM issued a policy document in April 2015 on musharakah, recognising two types of musharakah, namely:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.7em;">partnership in joint ownership (shirkah al-milk), pursuant to which each partner’s ownership to the asset is mutually exclusive and that one partner cannot deal with the other partner’s asset without the latter’s consent; and</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.7em;">contractual partnership (shirkah al-aqd), whereby a partner is an agent of the other partner and the conduct of one partner in the ordinary course of business represents the partnership.</li>
</ul>
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A musharakah venture may be managed by a single managing partner, or by a third-party manager. There are no formalities for the appointment of the managing partner.</div>
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The profit sharing ratio in the musharakah must be proportionate to each partner’s contribution unless mutually agreed otherwise. The musharakah contract is not permitted to stipulate a fixed amount of profit to any partners. The expected return in the form of a percentage that is attributable to the capital amount is only permissible in indicative form. As such, no floating rates of return can be linked to a customer’s profit unless it is used as a benchmark for indicative return.</div>
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The concept of musharakah mutanaqisah (diminishing musha-rakah) is also widely used in structuring sukuk in Malaysia. Under this principle, a musharakah is entered into by two or more parties on a particular asset or venture that allows one of the partners to gradually acquire the shareholding of the other partner through an agreed redemption method during the subsistence of the musharakah contract.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ijarah - lease to own agreement.</strong></div>
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The BNM issued a policy document in June 2018 on ijarah, which was set to come into force on 1 August 2018. The policy document explicitly recognises that an Islamic financial institution can make available or transfer the usufruct of an asset to another person for a fixed period in exchange for a specified consideration. Ijarah contracts are not caught by the general consumer law for hire purchase. Notwithstanding this, to ensure that a customer under an ijarah financing contract is accorded with the same standard of protection provided under the hire purchase laws in the event of a repossession, the policy document issued by BNM incorporates requirements to ensure that the consumer protection elements in the hire purchase laws relating to repossession are reflected in an ijarah financing contract.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Wadiah - safekeeping agreement.</strong></div>
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The BNM issued a policy document in August 2016 on wadiah, which is set to come into force on 31 July 2018. Based on the policy document, wadiah refers to a contract where an asset is placed with another party for safekeeping. As such, the wadiah asset is held on trust by the custodian, for the benefit of the depositor. The custodian will not be liable for any loss or damages to the wadiah asset, except for that arising from his or her own misconduct, negligence or breach of specified terms of the wadiah contact.</div>
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In Malaysia, most of the banks offer savings accounts based on the concept of wadiah. Gifts (hibah) to depositors are possible in lieu of interest, except for investment accounts. In cases where the manager or custodian breaches his or her fiduciary duty or misuses the funds, he or she would be liable to return in full all the depositors’ money.</div>
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Based on the policy document issued by the BNM, unlike Islamic deposits, a deposit protection scheme does not extend to cover investment accounts that are based on the concept of risk- and profit-sharing.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Products</u></strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sukuk - Islamic securities. Have sukuk or other Islamic securities been structured and issued in your jurisdiction to comply with Islamic principles, such as the prohibition of interest?</strong></div>
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It is common for sukuk or other Islamic securities to be structured and issued in Malaysia to comply with Islamic principles, such as the prohibition of interest. The most popular and well-accepted sukuk structures are those based upon the principles of commodity murabahah (tawarruq), wakalah and musharakah mutanaqisah (diminishing musharakah).</div>
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In terms of market size, based on the statistics published by the SC, there were 32 approved sukuk issuances where sukuk with a nominal value of 50.965 billion Malaysian ringgit was issued, representing 56.72 per cent of the total new corporate bonds and sukuk issuances in 2018.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Legal position</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">What is the legal position of sukuk holders in an insolvency or a restructuring? Are sukuk instruments viewed as equity or debt instruments? Have there been any court decisions or legislation declaring whether sukuk holders are deemed to own the underlying assets?</strong></div>
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Generally, sukuk holders are treated as the same as conventional bondholders in an insolvency or a restructuring (ie, as debt instruments). However, sukuk are viewed as trust certificates (ie, documents evidencing ownership of assets). Having said that, we are not aware of any Malaysian court decision or legislation declaring that sukuk holders are deemed to own the underlying assets.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Insurance</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Takaful - Islamic insurance. Are there any conventional cooperative or mutual insurance vehicles that are, or could be adapted to be, shariah-compliant?</strong></div>
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We are not aware of any conventional cooperative or mutual insurance vehicles that are, or could be adapted to be, shariah-compliant.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Which lines of insurance are currently covered in the takaful market? Is takaful typically ceded to conventional reinsurers or is retakaful common in practice?</strong></div>
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Both family and general takaful are covered in the takaful market in Malaysia. Retakaful is common in practice, although ceding to conventional reinsurers is still prevalent owing to an insufficient retakaful framework and infrastructure.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Miscellaneous</u></strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">What are the principal regulatory obstacles facing the Islamic finance industry in your jurisdiction?</strong></div>
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Despite the fact that the Islamic finance industry is developing at a remarkable pace, the principal regulatory obstacle facing the Islamic finance industry in Malaysia is a lack of appreciation of the true nature and spirit of Islamic banking and finance transactions. Islamic banking and finance are often accused of being a mere replication of their conventional counterparts, and hence steered towards an objective that is more profit- and interest-driven rather than one that is aimed at serving the real needs of society.</div>
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There appears to be a strong emphasis on ‘form over substance’, where the products and services offered are shariah-compliant on paper, but the pricing, treatment of late penalty and the interest-based benchmarks reflect those of conventional borrowing.</div>
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We anticipate that over the next few years the BNM will continue to be heavily engaged in conversation with industry players to identify the loopholes in practices, and publish more guidelines and policy documents setting out the mandatory operational requirements and practices that Islamic financial institutions should adopt to ensure end-to-end compliance with shariah principles.</div>
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The Islamic finance industry in Malaysia is supported by a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework as well as a robust infrastructure. However, to ensure that Islamic finance is able to compete with its conventional counterparts and that Malaysia is able to create an interest-free banking system, there is an urgent need to invest time and money in providing the essential training to develop a pool of human talent who can spearhead the government’s initiative in promoting Malaysia as an international Islamic finance hub.</div>
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We are not aware of any notable conflicts between the accounting standards adopted in Malaysia and shariah principles.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Shariah law</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">In what circumstances may shariah law become the governing law for a contract or a dispute? Have there been any recent notable cases on jurisdictional issues, the applicability of shariah or the conflict of shariah and local law relevant to the finance sector?</strong></div>
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Based on Malaysia’s Federal Constitution, Islamic finance (contractual) matters fall within the ambit of federal laws and are dealt with by the civil courts. Generally, an Islamic finance contract is governed by civil laws and made subject to shariah principles. Civil court judges are bound to apply civil laws (being the laws of the land) in adjudicating Islamic finance disputes, and any issues concerning a shariah matter that arise from such disputes may be referred by the courts to the SAC for a ruling that is binding on such courts. This clear separation of jurisdiction minimises any potential conflict between shariah and local laws that are relevant to the finance sector.</div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Institutional takeover</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Are there any special considerations for the takeover of an Islamic financial institution, outside the requirements of the general merger control regime?</strong></div>
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We are not aware of any special consideration for the takeover of an Islamic financial institution, outside the requirement of the general merger control regime. Any takeover of an Islamic financial institution is subject to the prior approval of the BNM.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Are there any notable features of the Islamic finance regime and markets for Islamic finance products in your jurisdiction not covered above?</strong></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Green sukuk</span><br />
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The first green sakk in the world was launched in Malaysia on 27 June 2017. The sakk issued was classified as a green Islamic bond, as the proceeds were used to fund an environmentally sustainable infrastructure project (ie, the construction of renewable energy generation facilities). This innovative channel was originated to address global funding gaps in green financing and introduced by the SC under the sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) sukuk framework, which forms part of the Lodge and Launch Framework. The SRI framework is the result of collaboration between the SC, the BNM and the World Bank Group, in an effort to develop an ecosystem to facilitate the growth of green sukuk and to introduce innovative financial instruments to tackle global infrastructure needs and green financing. Several incentives are in place to attract green issuers including tax deductions until 2020, the year of assessment on issuance costs of SRI sukuk approved or authorised by or lodged with the SC, tax incentives for green technology activities in energy, transport, building waste management and supporting services activities.</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platform</span><br />
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In April 2016, the SC introduced the P2P financing platform to widen the funding avenues for small and medium-sized enterprises. The regulatory framework, the registration requirements and the obligations of a P2P operator are set out in the Guidelines on Recognised Markets issued by the SC on 11 December 2015 (revised on 17 May 2019). Based on the guidelines, a P2P platform is defined as an electronic platform that facilitates directly or indirectly the issuance, execution or offering of an investment note or an Islamic investment note. All P2P operators must be locally incorporated and have a minimum paid-up capital of 5 million Malaysian ringgit. Where an Islamic investment note is offered through the P2P platform, the P2P operator must establish and maintain a shariah-compliant trust account into which all funds raised for the issuers must be deposited. To ensure that the Islamic investment note issued complies with shariah requirements, the P2P operator is required to appoint a shariah adviser who must be registered with the SC. In May 2019, the SC announced an additional five P2P operators, resulting in 11 P2P operators in total.</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Financial technology regulatory sandbox</span><br />
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The advances in financial technology (fintech) have led to improvements in customer value and experience and further enhance the efficiency of the risk management system of financial institutions. To ensure that the existing legal and regulatory framework is conducive to the deployment of fintech, the BNM has designated a ‘sandbox’ to deploy and test the fintech innovation in a live environment, within specified parameters and time frames. Fintech companies and financial institutions (including Islamic financial institutions) are encouraged to participate in the sandbox to test their product, service or solution that uses technological innovation in the provision of financial services.</div>
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The Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox Framework was issued and came into force on 18 October 2016, setting out an applicant’s eligibility criteria, the application requirements and the disclosure or submission of reports or information.</div>
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With effect from 1 January 2017, financial technology companies participating in the sandbox have been exempted from the relevant licensing requirements prescribed under FSA for the purpose of carrying on the authorised business or registered business as specified by the BNM.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Updates and trends</u></strong></div>
<em style="-webkit-text-stroke: 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Key developments of the past year</em><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Are there any proposals for new legislation or regulation, or to revise existing legislation or regulation? If so, please give a reference to any written material, whether official or press reports. Are there any other current developments or trends that should be noted?</strong></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Key developments of the past year28 Are there any proposals for new legislation or regulation, or to revise existing legislation or regulation? If so, please give a reference to any written material, whether official or press reports. Are there any other current developments or trends that should be noted?</span><br />
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We are not aware of any proposals for new legislation or regulation, or to revise existing legislation or regulation in relation to Islamic finance.</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Trade credit insurance and trade credit takaful</span><br />
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On 3 May 2019, the BNM issued a policy document on trade credit insurance and trade credit takaful, which took effect on the same date. The trade credit insurance or takaful protects businesses against the risk of non-payment of goods and services by buyers. The policy document sets out the approval process and requirements on the offering of trade credit insurance by a licensed insurer and trade credit takaful by a licensed takaful operator, and the treatment of trade credit insurance or trade credit takaful as credit risk mitigation by a banking institution under the capital adequacy framework applicable to it. BNM approval is required for a licensed insurer or takaful operator to carry on trade credit insurance business or trade credit takaful business. A licensed insurer or takaful operator must have adequate technical ability to underwrite credit risk that will be assessed by the BNM. A licensed takaful operator must ensure that it offers trade credit takaful in a shariah-compliant manner. Lastly, the annual gross premium of the trade credit insurance business or contribution of the trade credit takaful business must not exceed 10 per cent of a licensed insurer or takaful operator’s total gross premiums or contributions of the preceding calendar year.</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">ASEAN green, social and sustainability bonds/Sukuk</span><br />
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The ASEAN Capital Markets Forum launched the ASEAN Green Bond Standards, the ASEAN Social Bond Standards and the ASEAN Sustainability Bond Standards (collectively, the Standards), all of which were initially a set of voluntary guidelines. In 2017, these Standards were adopted by the Securities Commission as part of its Guidelines for the issuance of bonds/sukuk and consequently, any issuance of ’green’ bonds/sukuk currently, would need to comply with the applicable Standards as well as Malaysia’s Sustainable and Responsible Investment Sukuk Framework. Malaysia is one of the first countries to participate in this initiative. Proceeds of bonds/sukuk issued under the Standards must be used for social projects that include affordable basic infrastructure, access to essential services, affordable housing, employment generation, food security and socioeconomic advancement and empowerment. Utilisation of proceeds that pose negative social impacts related to alcohol, gambling, tobacco and weaponry is prohibited. Since the launch of the Standards, there has been a slow but steady movement towards the use of Islamic financial instruments to finance green activities, in the light of increasing concern about climate change. It was the theme of the conference organised by the Securities Commission, the World Bank and the IOSCO Asia Pacific Hub on ’Harnessing Islamic Finance for a Green Future’ held in May 2018, and reported by the Securities Commission and the World Bank Group in a report entitled ’Islamic Green Finance - Development, Ecosystem and Prospects’ (published by the Securities Commission in March 2019) reported that Islamic finance has a close connection with ’green’ finance in that, both share in common, characteristics of risk sharing and sustainability, which are crucial to financing projects which address climate change, such projects often being innovative and technology-centric.</div>
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We anticipate that the trend towards issuing ’green’ or ’sustainable’ sukuk will gather momentum; it is already attracting investors seeking to brand themselves as responsible investors, and who wish to include within their asset portfolio, sustainable and climate-friendly investments.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-18732755587292023382019-10-11T23:58:00.000+08:002019-10-13T23:59:51.927+08:00Huge growth potential in Islamic fintech in Malaysia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BERNAMA (11.10.2019)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 -- Industry players should be more aggressive in tapping into the enormous growth potential of Islamic Financial Technology (fintech) market in Malaysia despite being in its infancy stage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">According to the Economic Outlook 2020 report released by Finance Ministry today, the growth in Islamic fintech is supported by raising awareness among stakeholders and strong demand from customers as well as the facilitative regulatory environment in key Islamic financial markets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"By embracing and embarking on Shariah-compliant digital innovations, new and greater opportunities will be available for industry players, therefore, industry players need to play an aggressive role in accelerating digital innovations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Ultimately, by leveraging Islamic fintech, Malaysia's aspiration of becoming a global Islamic Financial hub can be achieved through wide-ranging Shariah-compliant products and services offered to cater to the rapidly evolving market and customer demand," the report said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It said the fintech driven by Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) is exponentially enhancing 20th-century financial services, operations business models and customer engagement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fintech entities are not financial institutions but utilise fintech in providing financial services such as lending, investment, payment, risk management, data analytics and wealth management.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Some of the activities include mobile payments, money transfer, trading platforms, crowdfunding and peer-to-peer (P2P) financing, and in the context of Islamic fintech, it said all these activities must be Shariah-compliant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The advent of fintech makes Islamic finance more competitive and attractive to customers as it provides choices which are more aligned to individual needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It also attracts more customers by providing a wide range of products and services at a lower cost in a more efficient manner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Furthermore, it said users will benefit from superior customer experience as Islamic fintech leverages the Internet, mobile devices, social media integration, big data analytics (BDA) and artificial intelligence (AI).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the beginning of the Islamic fintech era in Malaysia, the crowdfunding platform was the first to be introduced to the marketplace.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2016, significant progress in Islamic fintech was achieved including the introduction of Investment Account Platform (IAP), Islamic Crowdfunding, Islamic FinTech Alliance (IFT Alliance) Islamic P2P financing and Islamic Robo-Advisor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Several initiatives are being implemented to accelerate the growth of fintech in the country, including the issuance of a FinTech Regulatory Sandbox guideline as a reference document, and the introduction of Islamic Digital Economy (IDE) Guide by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to assist Islamic digital players by providing opportunities to scale up capacity and increase demand for their products and services.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-- BERNAMA</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-42703498640978186942019-10-10T00:44:00.000+08:002019-10-14T00:45:06.537+08:00Islamic unit trust funds by PMB INVESTMENT - Year-to-date return as at 10 October 2019 (1.1.2019 - 10.10.2019)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dana Patuh Syariah - PMB INVESTMENT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Year-to-date return as at 10 October 2019</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(1.1.2019 - 10.10.2019):</span></div>
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✅PMB Shariah Mid Cap Fund ⬆️ 18.12%</div>
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✅PMB Dana Mutiara ⬆️ 14.63%</div>
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✅PMB Shariah TNB Employees Fund ⬆️ 13.89%</div>
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✅PMB Shariah Aggressive Fund ⬆️ 10.11%</div>
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✅PMB Shariah Small-Cap Fund ⬆️ 10.31%</div>
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✅PMB Dana Al- Aiman ⬆️ 9.65%</div>
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✅PMB Dana Bestari⬆️ 9.39%</div>
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✅PMB Shariah Tactical Fund ⬆️ 7.10%</div>
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✅PMB Shariah Growth Fund ⬆️ 3.49%</div>
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✅PMB Shariah Index Fund ⬆️ 4.68%</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alhamdulillah.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dana-dana patuh Syariah PMB INVESTMENT.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Untuk melabur, sila hubungi:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">whatsapp: +60192348786</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.wasap.my/60192348786/PMBinvestment"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">www.wasap.my/60192348786/PMBinvestment</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sanusi | GAM & Consultant</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-58104517011513866862019-10-06T18:40:00.000+08:002019-10-15T18:45:24.137+08:00AmMetLife Takaful sees 38 per cent growth in takaful business<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWODAaPl2P0snPRE6zM8OHebmxWHCaoG5hDayWaG0TVDvpj6hCZjKUjfmZByx-bjaqv_kAAUY3XcPMIZNouACth5fdHq_n4eiBSQu-MD-MrjIyxAF5xeHlR6Z00do8QEHkH_1I-1mT-WL/s1600/Takaful+umbrella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWODAaPl2P0snPRE6zM8OHebmxWHCaoG5hDayWaG0TVDvpj6hCZjKUjfmZByx-bjaqv_kAAUY3XcPMIZNouACth5fdHq_n4eiBSQu-MD-MrjIyxAF5xeHlR6Z00do8QEHkH_1I-1mT-WL/s400/Takaful+umbrella.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">BERNAMA (6.10.2019)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oct 6 -- Ammetlife Takaful Bhd (AmMetLife Takaful) expects its takaful business to record a 38 per cent growth by the end of its financial year ending March 31, 2020, supported by continuous campaigns and cross-selling through its bancatakaful partner, Ambank (M) Bhd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">AmMetLife Takaful chief executive officer Noor Azam Mohd Yusof said to-date, the company has recorded about 13 per cent year-on-year growth compared with the same period in 2018.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“This was mainly supported by regular contribution products distributed through AmBank branches and the agencies," he told Bernama when contacted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Apart from distributing credit-related takaful product, Ambank is also distributing AmMetLife Takaful products such as Protect Secure-i Murni and FlexiSecure-i, and has launched a new medical rider, HealthCare Choice-i Rider, which comes without any lifetime limit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Meanwhile, commenting on the upcoming 2020 Budget, Noor Azam said the budget should include a higher tax deduction allowance on insurance or takaful product purchases to boost insurance product take-up rates in line with the government’s aspirations to promote a financially inclusive society.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The current tax relief of RM3,000 per year life for insurance premiums for individuals can be reviewed to increase the adoption rate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Over time, these incentives will boost the public’s awareness on life insurance and takaful, and improve the adoption rate," he added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In January this year, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had launched mySalam, the national Bottom 40 (B40) protection scheme to boost the take-up rate for insurance and takaful products among the B40 group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The scheme, which was set up with a substantial seed fund of RM2 billion, is expected to benefit 3.69 million people aged between 18 and 55 in the group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"AmMetLife Takaful started exploring the possibility of providing micro takaful schemes to the general public with the B40 segment in mind since the end of 2017.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“We even introduced iMeriah, a pilot insurance scheme for Mydin’s loyal customers, and we are now looking for feasible ways to scale up this concept targeting the B40 segment, together with a financial literacy agenda," added Noor Azam. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-- BERNAMA</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-88493871967197771782019-10-05T19:05:00.000+08:002019-10-15T20:02:51.415+08:00Better governance with new Islamic finance framework (Syariah Governance Framework) - Malaysia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijQmxs-XwkPm0kl5pWWsGWe64C5iC6uTx02GonDgG7cmOtXTB8LPoHbzO3vAv9rnohlVnMV0FhMG9_In_tJ0myUdMBvYm8k_8C-Y0wMrn4mZgUu_6O05fwPzwUFD1ndnsHG61iT4SnE4w/s1600/Syariah+Governance+Framework+-+Bank+Negara+Malaysia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="620" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijQmxs-XwkPm0kl5pWWsGWe64C5iC6uTx02GonDgG7cmOtXTB8LPoHbzO3vAv9rnohlVnMV0FhMG9_In_tJ0myUdMBvYm8k_8C-Y0wMrn4mZgUu_6O05fwPzwUFD1ndnsHG61iT4SnE4w/s400/Syariah+Governance+Framework+-+Bank+Negara+Malaysia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">By<span style="font-weight: 700;"> </span>Dr Mohammad Mahbubi Ali</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">NST (5 Oct 2019)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">SYARIAH is the backbone of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs).Ensuring syariah compliance is essential for maintaining the confidence of stakeholders and the public at large.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Inadequate attention to the whole process of syariah compliance inevitably triggers negative repercussions for IFIs, such as financial loss and massive withdrawals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Over the last two decades, many cases have been brought to the courts challenging the syariah compliance aspects of some Islamic banking products.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The decision by some judges to annul the underlying contracts of several Islamic banking products has posed the threat of financial losses for the banks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a case in point, in the Arab Malaysian Finance Bhd versus Taman Ihsan Jaya Sdn Bhd case, the court declared that bay’ bi thaman ajil (BBA) was invalid on the basis that the BBA facility was a bona fide sale transaction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Therefore, when the bank recalled the facility at a higher total price, the sale no longer represented a bona fide sale transaction but was merely a financing facility similar to a loan under the conventional system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nevertheless, the Court of Appeal in the case of Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd versus Lim Kok Hoe reversed this decision, upholding the validity of the BBA as an enforceable contract.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Against the above backdrop, on Oct 26, 2010, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) introduced the Syariah Governance Framework (SGF) for IFIs operating under its purview (notably Islamic banks, conventional banks offering Islamic financial services and takaful companies).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The SGF aimed to strengthen the syariah governance structures, processes and arrangements of IFIs to ensure syariah compliance. The SGF required IFIs to institute clear internal control and remedial rectification measures to address Syariah non-compliant incidents holistically.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In response to emerging IFI business complexity and market maturity, on Sept 20, 2019, BNM issued a new, revised version of the SGF, namely Syariah Governance Policy (SGP), which supersedes the exiting SGF.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This new framework set out to enhance board oversight and the responsibilities of syariah governance, increase the requirements for syariah committees providing objective and sound advice to IFIs, raise the expectation that board and senior management promote a syariah compliance culture, and improve the quality of internal control functions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This article highlights some of the new, enhanced features of the 2019 SGP in comparison with the 2010 SGF.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">FIRST</span>,the new SGP restricts the tenure of syariah committee members to a maximum of nine years in a single IFI, in comparison to the 2010 SGF, which had no limit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This limit addresses concerns regarding complacency, which may affect the professional</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">objectivity of syariah committees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A fresh and new composition of syariah committee members is expected to deepen syariah deliberation and the overall competence of syariah committees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This particular requirement, however, will only be effective from April 1, 2023, to allow for transitional arrangements and sufficient time for IFIs to reconstitute their syariah committee compositions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">SECOND</span>,the previous SGF allowed syariah committees to adopt more stringent syariah decisions than the published rulings of the Syariah Advisory Council (SAC).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The new SGP, however, mandates that banks notify the BNM about any additional restrictions that go beyond the SAC rulings, together with any documented deliberation and justification by their syariah committees (para 10.7).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">THIRD</span>,the preceding SGF was silent about the status of a politically-exposed person acting as a member of a syariah committee. The 2019 SGP, on the other hand, explicitly prohibits active politicians from becoming syariah committee members.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">FOURTH</span>,the new SGP mandates that boards establish effective communication with their syariah committees on all matters relating to syariah requirements, syariah governance, or syariah non-compliance risks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The boards must also regularly review the quality and frequency of their engagement with their syariah committees. This is to enable both the board and syariah committee to discharge their respective responsibilities effectively. The 2010 SGF was, however, silent on this requirement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">FIFTH</span>,the former SGF required that the syariah review function be conducted by a qualified syariah officer, holding at least a bachelor’s degree in syariah, including in ushul fiqh and fiqh muamalat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The new SGP removes such requirements and situates itself as part of the overall compliance responsibility under the control function.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In this regard, the syariah review function is required to have a sound understanding of those syariah requirements applicable to Islamic financial businesses and operations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Finally, while the 2010 SGF required the establishment of a dedicated syariah research function by a qualified syariah officer, the 2019 SGP removes this requirement by consolidating its role under the syariah secretariat function.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The approach taken by the new policy places more emphasis on ensuring effective management of syariah non-compliance risks through control function.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">From a broader perspective, we can conclude that the new SGP demonstrates BNM’s heightened expectations towards effective syariah governance and culture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is yet another step in the impressive development profile of Islamic banking and finance in Malaysia, which it is is hoped will see an increase in public confidence in the often questioned syariah compliance credibility of Islamic banks and financial institutions in this country.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the writer is a Research Fellow at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-15364236407991068682019-09-20T08:14:00.000+08:002019-10-17T08:15:09.365+08:00Constitutionality of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Shariah Council’s Rulings on issues affecting Islamic financial transactions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Edge Court Judgement Report (20.9.2019)</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;">ISLAMIC BANKING AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;">CONSTITUTIONALITY of Bank Negara’s Shariah Council’s Rulings on issues affecting Islamic financial transactions</span></div>
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Sections 56 and 57 of the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009 (‘BNM Act’) require the Court and an arbitrator to refer a Shariah issue which has arisen in legal proceedings relating to Islamic financial business to the Shariah Advisory Council (‘SAC’) of Bank Negara Malaysia (‘BNM’) for a ruling. The ruling of the SAC is binding on the Court and the arbitrator.</div>
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The fundamental issue is whether Sections 56 and 57 of the BNM Act are unconstitutional for taking away the power of the judiciary to deliberate and decide on an issue in a dispute in Court by vesting the resolution of that issue with the SAC. This question confronted the Federal Court in JRI Resources Sdn Bhd v Kuwait Finance House Bhd. The serious importance raised by this issue in financial transactions based on Islamic principles inspired the Federal Court, for the first time in history, to convene a nine-judge panel, to deliberate upon the issue. Apart from the original parties involved in the litigation, BNM and the Association of Islamic Banking Institution of Malaysia (‘AIBIM’) intervened and actively participated in this case. BNM, AIBIM and the respondent, Kuwait Finance House Bhd (‘KFH’) defended the constitutionality of the statutory provisions.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Summary sketch of the facts</span></div>
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KFH had provided JRI Resources Sdn Bhd (‘JRI’) with an Islamic financing facility under the principle of ijarah (leasing) to fund the acquisition of vessels. In essence, KFH purchased the vessels from a third party at the request of JRI and KHF became the owner of the vessels. The vessels were then leased to JRI. Subsequently, KFH sued JRI in Court for outstanding lease payments.</div>
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JRI’s defence was that the vessels had failed to generate income due to KFH’s failure to carry out major maintenance works on the vessels. This, JRI claimed, was the responsibility of KFH as the owner of the vessels. KFH, on the other hand, claimed that pursuant to a clause in the Ijarah Facility Agreement (‘Relevant Clause’), it was JRI’s responsibility to undertake all major maintenance works in respect of the vessels. JRI argued that the Relevant Clause was against Islamic law and appointed a Shariah scholar, Dr. Azman Mohd Noor, to act as an expert witness in the Court proceedings. Dr. Azman’s expert opinion was that the Relevant Clause was not in compliance with Islamic law. KFH also provided expert evidence through its Shariah scholar, Dr. Aznan Hasan. Dr. Aznan agreed that the Relevant Clause was non-compliant with Islamic law but took the view that the non-compliance was immaterial and did not result in any invalidity. A Shariah question on the validity of the Relevant Clause from the Shariah perspective was therefore raised in the proceedings. The High Court referred the issue to the SAC under Sections 56 and 57 of the BNM Act. The SAC ruled in favour of KFH. The ruling was thus binding on the High Court, which then scheduled the case for trial.</div>
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Before the trial started, JRI applied to refer to the Federal Court for a determination on the constitutionality of Sections 56 and 57 under which the SAC had given its ruling. The nine-judge panel of the Federal Court was sharply divided in its decision with a five to four majority in favour of the constitutionality of the provisions.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Decision of the majority</span></div>
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The leading judgment of the majority was written by Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh (Azahar Mohamed, Ahmad Maarop, Ramly Ali and Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin FCJJ concurring).</div>
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Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh referred to Section 52 of the BNM Act, which sets out the functions of the SAC, one of which is to ‘ascertain the Islamic law on any financial matter and issue a ruling upon a reference made to it’. Accordingly, the learned Judge held that the SAC only ascertains the Shariah rules that may be in dispute between the parties and the SAC does not determine the ultimate outcome of the litigation and which rests with the Court. As such, the exercise by SAC of its power under ss 56 and 57, including the binding effect of its ruling on the Court, does not involve an exercise of judicial power and does not usurp any power of the judiciary.</div>
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Justice Azahar Mohamed (now, CJM) agreed, holding that the ascertainment of Islamic laws are a function or power delegated to the judicial branch and the SAC. In the words of the learned Judge, ‘the impugned provisions could not and did not trespass or intrude onto the judicial power; the provisions did not violate the doctrine of separation of powers’. The majority also justified the impugned provisions by drawing a comparison to the mandatory sentencing regime of the criminal law where it is the Parliament, not the Court, that fixes the punishment on a convicted person. Similarly, it was therefore proper for the Parliament to vest the function of ascertaining Islamic law in respect of Islamic banking to the SAC, which arguably is part of the executive, whose decision is binding on the Court.</div>
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Critically, the majority drew attention to the diverse opinions amongst Shariah scholars on any particular Shariah issue which had led to uncertainty in the Islamic finance industry. In disputes brought to Court, there had been several decisions where the Judges on one hand had disregarded the Shariah issues and on the other hand referred to the various sources of Islamic law on their own. Thus, it was important that measures be taken to promote consistent implementation of Shariah contractual principles. This is especially because members of the Judiciary are not trained in Shariah.</div>
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In upholding the legislation, Justice Zawawi held that the traditional notion of the principle of separation of powers that there are separate and distinct roles for the executive, the legislature and the judiciary has changed over time and that there are overlapping and blending of functions between the branches of the government to facilitate efficient operation of the government. Ultimately, the Federal Court, by a majority judgment, held that Sections 56 and 57 did not provide for the usurpation of the Court’s judicial function by the SAC.</div>
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‘… separation of powers of government has never existed in pure form except in political theory. In reality, there is an overlap and blending of functions, resulting in complementary activity by the different branches that makes absolute separation of powers impossible.’</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Justice Zawawi Salleh</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Decision of the minority</span></div>
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On the other hand,Richard Malanjum CJ (as he then was) wrote one of the dissenting judgments for the minority (David Wong, Zaharah Ibrahim and Idrus Harun FCJJ concurring).</div>
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The then CJ anchored his dissenting judgment on the principle of separation of powers between the executive branch of the Government and the Judiciary.</div>
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The then CJ accepted that there might be partial overlapping of functions. However, the overlaps have always been found between the legislative and the executive only. There is no overlapping with the Judiciary, which has ‘absolute independence’. Judicial powers cannot be conferred upon any other body which does not comply with the constitutional safeguards conferred upon the Judiciary.</div>
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Further, after accepting that judicial power is the power of the sovereign to decide controversies between subjects and between subjects and itself, it was nonetheless held that the resolution of questions of law arising from judicial proceedings is an exercise of judicial power. This, the then CJ observed, is an aspect of adjudication, not ascertainment of principles. The other aspect of adjudication is the resolution of rights and liabilities of parties in dispute.</div>
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In context, Sections 56 and 57, the SAC’s functions intrude in the midst of ongoing judicial proceedings. The intrusions involve determinations affecting rights and liabilities of parties who are before the Court and are not mere general pronouncements on policies applicable for the future. The SAC’s ruling cannot be challenged with any contrary expert evidence, nor reviewed by the High Court nor overturn on appeal. Thus, the rulings of the SAC are not subject to any check and balance mechanism. In this context, it was held that it is immaterial whether the label ascribed to SAC’s function, as held by the majority, is one of ‘ascertainment’ rather than determination. The true nature of the functions can only be discovered upon consideration of the substance and actual effect of the provisions.</div>
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Justice Wong Dak Wah CJSS rejected the argument that the impugned provisions ‘do not vest any judicial power on the SAC’, relying particularly on Article 121 of the Federal Constitution that endows judicial power exclusively in the Civil Courts. Although the learned Judge expressed doubt that the test for judicial powers can be simplified into checklist of factors, nonetheless held that applying the three basic elements of ‘adjudication, finality and enforceability’ to test the inherent nature of judicial power, the impugned provisions are unconstituitional. Accordingly, once the SAC had ruled on the Relevant Clause, there is nothing left for decision.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">‘… the partial overlap between functions is confined to the spheres of legislative and executive powers … the justification … is to promote efficiency of government … In contrast, questions of judicial power occupy apart under the constitution due to its special nature. The absolute independence of the judiciary is the bulwark of the constitution against encroachment whether by the legislature or by the executive…</em></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Based … on a proper understanding of the principle of separation of powers, [there] are some … basic tenants in relation to judicial powers …(i) judicial power cannot be removed from the judiciary; (ii) … judicial power cannot be conferred upon any other body which does not comply with the constitutional safeguards to ensure its independence; (iii) non-judicial powers cannot be conferred by another branch of the government onto the judiciary …</em></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The legislative purpose behind the enactment of Sections 56 and 57 of the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009 is a commendable one … However, good legislative intentions do not excuse a constitutional transgression.’</em></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Richard Malanjum CJ (as he then was)</em></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-50702566542467274032019-08-27T00:08:00.000+08:002019-10-14T00:09:14.884+08:00Malaysian government sets up special committee on Islamic Finance <div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BERNAMA (27.8.2019)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">PUTRAJAYA, Aug 27 -- The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has announced the establishment a Special Committee on Islamic Finance (JKKI) to promote and encourage development of Islamic Finance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The committee, chaired by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, comprises nine regulators and Islamic finance experts, MoF said in a statement today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The setting up of JKKI, first announced in Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's 2019 Budget speech, is aimed at firming up the direction for promoting Malaysia as a global leader in Islamic finance, especially in the sukuk market.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It is also to strengthen efforts towards turning Malaysia into a centre of excellence in Islamic finance as well as a leading provider of support services for Islamic finance globally,” it said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">JKKI would coordinate the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders to enhance the Islamic finance industry in Malaysia while strengthening the public sector's role as the driving force in the industry and promoting efforts to increase public awareness in Islamic finance, MoF said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Committee members include Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, chairman of Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) Shariah Advisory Council and the Securities Commission (SC) as well as president of the International Islamic University of Malaysia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other members are Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia president and RHB Islamic Bank managing director Datuk Adissadikin Ali, Maybank Islamic Bhd chief executive officer and Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia chairman Datuk Mohd Rafique Merican Mohd Wahiduddin Merican, Employees Provident Fund syariah committee member Dr Zaharuddin Abd Rahman, Majlis Amanah Rakyat chairman Hasnita Datuk Hashim, SC deputy director (Islamic capital market development) Dr Md Nurdin Ngadimon, BNM director of Islamic banking and takaful department Madelena Mohamed, Islamic Development Department of Malaysia director-general Datuk Mohamad Nordin Ibrahim, Malaysian Takaful Association president and Sun Life Malaysia Takaful Bhd chief executive officer Muhammad Fikri Mohamad Rawi.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">MoF's strategic investment division serves as JKKI's secretariat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-- BERNAMA</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-40145671489795342842014-05-23T08:24:00.000+08:002014-05-23T08:24:02.743+08:00Malaysia: FGV to issue US$1b sukuk<h2 style="border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">EXPANSION DRIVE: Conglomerate in midst of choosing banks for the exercise, say sources</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">PLANTATION giant Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) is considering selling more than US$1 billion (RM3.21 billion) of dollar-denominated exchangeable Islamic bonds (sukuk), said three people with knowledge of the deal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> According to them, the bonds will be issued later in the year to finance its expansion drive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> "FGV is in the midst of choosing banks for the potential offer. It wants to raise cash to buy up more companies to support its existing businesses, albeit cautiously," the sources said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Part of the proceeds will be used for potential acquisitions of additional landbank in Southeast Asia and Africa by 2015 for planting oil palm and rubber.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> FGV raised more than RM11 billion by selling shares on the local stock exchange in 2012. Its initial public offering (IPO) was the second-largest in the world, after Facebook, that year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> A portion of the IPO exercise's proceeds was used for capital expenditure to increase efficiency as well as extension of capabilities, plantation acquisitions, expansion of downstream activities and other working capital requirements.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> For fiscal year 2013, FGV's net profit surged 21.72 per cent to RM980.99 million despite the tough economic conditions. Revenue for the full year was RM12.6 billion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Its cash and near cash as at end-December stood at RM5.02 billion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> FGV plans to acquire new businesses and increase plantation acreage and crude palm oil (CPO) production to achieve its revenue target of RM100 billion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The company manages 853,000ha of plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Last year, the company produced 3.21 million tonnes of CPO and it plans to increase production to more than four million tonnes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> President and chief executive officer Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah told Business Times recently that FGV aims to manage more than one million hectares of plantations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> He said to be a RM100 billion turnover company, FGV would need to grow by eight times.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Business Times / 23 May 2014)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-32853061265735993662014-05-22T09:07:00.000+08:002014-05-22T09:07:47.473+08:00Malaysia: Religious council introduces online zakat payment system<h2 style="border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">IPOH: The state Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council has introduced a system which enables zakat (tithe) payments to be done online.</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The system, e-PZB, was launched by state secretary Datuk Seri Abdul Puhat Mat Nayan at Dewan Bankuet of the State Secretariat building here recently.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The council's chief executive officer Dr Amiruddin Muhamed said with the online system, there is no reason for the people to shy away from paying zakat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"With the system, you just need to register with us and we will take care of the rest," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amiruddin said with the online system, one could even pay RM10 for zakat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The system eliminates red tape."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amiruddin said the council needed to increase its zakat collection as more poor people in the state are waiting for assistance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Citing an example, Amiruddin said the council built 300 homes for the poor last year and this year the number would be increased to 400 units.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The cost to build the homes has also increased from RM35,000 to RM38,000 for two-bedroom units while the cost to build three-bedroom homes had increased to RM44,000 from RM40,000," said Amiruddin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Besides homes for the poor, Amiruddin said the council also had 51 other assistance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those facing problems to sign up with the system can call the council at 05-208 4000.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Puhat said the number of people paying zakat in the state was relatively small. He hoped the number of people paying zakat would increase through this online system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(New Straits Times / 22 May 2014)</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-85025996886457633182014-01-29T06:55:00.000+08:002014-01-29T06:55:14.635+08:00Malaysia Taxes Spur Indonesian Oil-Palm Sukuk<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bumitama Agri is joining Indonesian oil-palm planters selling sukuk in Malaysia to take advantage of the nation’s tax breaks and to tap its record Shariah-compliant banking assets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The company set up a 2 billion ringgit ($599 million), 15- year Islamic bond program for investment and refinancing, according to a Jan. 21 stock exchange filing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Singapore-listed Golden Agri-Resources, which has operations in Indonesia, was the last producer of the commodity to sell ringgit-denominated sukuk in July, paying a coupon rate of 4.75 percent for 2018 securities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They yielded 4.91 percent on Jan. 24. Malaysia, whose Shariah-compliant banking assets more than doubled in the past five years to 543 billion ringgit, provides tax incentives for agricultural bonds as part of an effort to reinforce its position as a global Islamic hub.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Corporate issuance of sukuk in Indonesia rose almost 18 percent in 2013 to 2.2 trillion rupiah ($179 million), trailing the $14 billion in Malaysia, data compiled by Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority and Bloomberg show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“We’re getting a fair bit of enquiries from Southeast Asian plantation firms,” Mohd Effendi Abdullah, head of Islamic markets at Kuala Lumpur-based AmInvestment Bank, the nation’s third-biggest Shariah-compliant debt arranger in 2013, said in a phone interview yesterday. “Islamic bonds are ideal for such companies because they can use the assets and the agricultural income to back the offering.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tax deduction</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To encourage the issuance of agricultural-based sukuk, Prime Minister Najib Razak said in his September budget speech that taxes on expenses and stamp duties on such debt would be waived for four years through 2015. The securities pay returns on assets to comply with the Koran’s ban on interest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Indonesia’s First Resources has also tapped the nation’s Islamic investors. The Singapore-based palm-oil firm sold 600 million ringgit of five-year securities in July 2012 at a coupon rate of 4.45 percent and they were paying 4.39 percent yesterday, Bursa Malaysia data show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Golden Agri, the world’s second-biggest planter of the commodity after Malaysia’s Sime Darby Bhd., issued its first sukuk in November 2012.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The 1.5 billion ringgit of five-year notes paid a coupon of 4.35 percent and were yielding 4.85 percent on Jan. 24. Both securities are rated AA2 by RAM Rating Services, the third-highest investment grade.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yields on AA-rated corporate debt sold in Malaysia climbed four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, in 2014 to 4.45 percent as of Jan. 21, the highest level since June 2012, according to a central bank index.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">‘Naturally compatible’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Plantations and most other cash-crop commodities businesses are naturally compatible with Shariah-compliant financing structures,” Alhami Mohd Abdan, Kuala Lumpur-based head of international finance and capital markets at OCBC Al- Amin Bank said in an e-mail interview yesterday. “The sukuk market, and particularly the investor base in Malaysia, is very familiar and comfortable with” such issuance, he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bumitama is tapping the market just as global borrowing costs are climbing amid stimulus tapering by the Federal Reserve.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Emerging-market sovereign bond yields advanced 15 basis points this year to 6.25 percent, the highest level since Sept. 13 and above the 2013 average of 5.47 percent, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global Index.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Bloomberg-AIBIM Bursa Malaysia Corporate Sukuk Index, which tracks the most-traded local-currency notes issued in the world’s biggest market for the debt, fell 1 percent this year to 104.120 after gaining 2.8 percent in 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bumitama’s bonds are rated AA3 by RAM Ratings, one level lower than those of Golden Agri and First Resources.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The issuance will be the company’s first and adds to a 5.5 trillion rupiah outstanding loan that comes due in 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Market Depth Offerings of ringgit-denominated Islamic debt total 2.1 billion ringgit this year, compared with 181 million ringgit in the year-earlier period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other Southeast Asian oil-palm growers have also turned to Malaysia for funding via the sukuk market. Noble Group Ltd., which is listed on Singapore’s stock exchange, issued 300 million ringgit at a coupon rate of 4.3 percent in January 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The three-year securities yielded 4.61 percent when last traded on Jan. 22, Bursa Malaysia data shows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd. sold 1 billion ringgit of 10-year notes in 2012 at 4 percent and they were paying 4.7 percent on Jan. 27. Islamic bonds aren’t actively traded because investors tend to hold them until maturity due to their relative scarcity compared with conventional bonds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“For sukuk, Malaysia is one of the better places as we have the infrastructure in place, while market depth and liquidity aren’t an issue,” Lam Chee Mun, a Kuala Lumpur-based fund manager at TA Investment Management overseeing 680 million ringgit, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “If you think you want international investor participation, especially Islamic funds, you’d have to think of Islamic rather than conventional financing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Jakarta Globe / 28 Jan 2014)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-52842493488958084082014-01-28T10:50:00.000+08:002014-01-28T10:50:42.352+08:00Malaysia: Labuan IBFC allocates US$1m to promote Islamic wealth management<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 21.006000518798828px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28, 2014): </span>The Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (Labuan IBFC), which aims to continue attracting high net worth individual in Malaysia and South East Asia, has allocated US$1 million (RM3.3 million) to promote Islamic wealth management, said its CEO Saiful Bahari Baharom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I see good demand in the market. It is gaining momentum, but it really depends on the growth of the economy. Muslim high net worth individuals want to have Syariah solutions," Saiful told reporters after a memorandum of understanding between Labuan IBFC and the Global University of Islamic Finance (INCEIF) here yesterday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Saiful Bahari hopes that the collaboration with INCEIF will help raise awareness on Islamic wealth management globally particularly through industry-driven research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said the partnership will benefit both Labuan IBFC and INCEIF in terms of pooling their resources to conduct more research into understanding Syariah issues in wealth management.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"We hope to feature the findings from this research into an annual journal focusing on wealth management. At the moment, there is no journal point of reference for Islamic wealth management," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Saiful Bahari said the research topics proposed will cover key components of Islamic wealth management, including Syariah-compliant wealth acquisition, risk management, Islamic wealth preservation and wealth distribution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the moment, he said there is no industry wide knowledge of Islamic wealth management and there is a need for experts in this area.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said Labuan IBFC expects the number of foundations to grow by 100 this year compared to over 100 in 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">According to him, Labuan IBFC offers a wide range of wealth management tools suitable for high net worth individuals, family offices and other wealth managers needing a range of structures offering efficient wealth transfer, dynastic planning and inheritance management.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 21.006000518798828px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Under the 2010 law, he said Labuan is now one of the few common law jurisdictions offering investors a choice of common law trusts and civil law foundations, propelling the jurisdiction to the forefront of international wealth planning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(The Sun Daily / 28 Jan 2014)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-62022364310314263722014-01-16T10:56:00.000+08:002014-01-16T10:56:00.854+08:00Malaysia: Brunei’s Takaful growth pushes ahead its Islamic finance ambitions<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — Assets held by the Islamic insurance (takaful) sector in Brunei recently have grown significantly while those of conventional types of insurance have been declining, a report from the country's central bank showed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The monthly report from Brunei's monetary authority, known as AMBD, said that in the year ended Sept. 30, takaful assets rose 21 per cent to 425 million Brunei dollars (RM1.102 million). Conventional insurers saw a drop of 1.3 per cent in assets during the same 12-month period.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fast-growing takaful sector indicates Brunei is progressing toward its goal of having Islamic financial products account for up to 60 per cent of total banking assets in five years, compared with 40 per cent at present.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At end-September, Brunei's takaful market accounted for 33 per cent of total insurance assets, up from 29 per cent a year earlier, according to the AMBD report.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brunei, which has Southeast Asia's highest per-capita income after Singapore, aims to compete in Islamic finance with regional powerhouses Malaysia and Indonesia. That is part of a strategy to wean itself off dependence on oil reserves, which are expected to run out in about two decades, and diversify Brunei's economy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia have the largest potential for retail Islamic banking in Southeast Asia. The combined population of the three Muslim-majority countries is nearly 280 million.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although insurance assets have seen rapid growth in Brunei in the past decade, industry players say there is still poor awareness about insurance among its population. Brunei has four takaful operators.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Assets of Indonesian takaful firms grew 43 per cent to 13.1 trillion rupiah (RM3.61 billion) during 2012, from 9.15 trillion rupiah a year earlier, data from that country's regulator showed. Takaful firms accounted for 2.3 per cent of Indonesia's total industry assets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A proposed law in Indonesia that requires takaful firms to be spun off into standalone entities could, when enacted, spur mergers in that market. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In July, Malaysia declared new rules for takaful firms to separate life and general business lines, a move observers said could spur buy-outs of smaller operations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(The Malay Mail Online.Com / 15 Jan 2014)</span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-2207011860215046312013-12-30T07:16:00.000+08:002013-12-30T07:16:37.863+08:00Growth of Malaysia's insurance, takaful sectors seen stable<div style="background-color: white; border: none; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">KUALA LUMPUR: The growth of the insurance and takaful sectors for 2014 will remain stable amid domestic demand, said industry experts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Takaful Malaysia group managing director Datuk <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="MOHAMEF614C142BBCD4E31A3BBDC7D64753253">Mohamed Hassan Kamil</span> said strong growth prospects and improved risk management would lead to increased demand for insurance and takaful amongst the public at large.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said the industry is anticipated to remain encouraging for both conventional and takaful operators through the introduction of new or enhanced and innovative products by insurance takaful companies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“There is plenty of room for organic growth, given the fact that Malaysia still has low insurance penetration in both the conventional and takaful sectors. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“In addition, we project a muted earnings growth outlook in certain areas of the local insurance and takaful industry arena that is likely to be impacted by investment de-risking and financial market volatility,” he told <em>Bernama</em>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Regarding market players, he said the local insurance and takaful players are expected to utilise multiple distribution options available and develop alternative channels whilst strengthening their agency force to establish a solid foothold in the industry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said this will be supported by the implementation of strategic marketing and operating systems on top of competitive and cutting-edge products and services offered by respective industry players.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hassan Kamil said despite the positive outlook, the industry will face diverse changes that were expected from the enforcement of the <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="RISKBAFBFCC0FF876947B4B4274A68FDDFCA03">Risk-Based Capital (RBC)</span> framework in 2014. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The RBC implementation might change the landscape of the takaful industry and the expected contribution growth is deemed to accelerate modestly, with fairly robust growth amongst takaful operators outpacing the conventional players,” he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Apart from that, both industries have been experiencing an influx of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) resulting in more foreign insurers tapping into the Malaysian insurance market, he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amongst M&As this year were <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="KHAZAN7D30B6A910014E48839F8A9E430E83CB">Khazanah Nasional Bhd</span>’s partnership with Canadian-based <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="SUNLIFD924A777B1F442A08386682B8104A154">Sun Life Financial Inc</span> to acquire 98% of CIMB Aviva Assurance Bhd for RM1.8bil, and <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="AMERIC8D1F92A91F884985BB168AF06190C39C">American International Assurance Bhd</span>’s acquisition of ING’s insurance and takaful business in June 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The industry has seen new players from Canada and the US coming into the Malaysian market, taking over the smaller local players.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“We have witnessed the emergence of financial solid players in the local insurance industry arena as a result of the M&A exercises. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The insurance and takaful industry in Malaysia remains encouraging for both life and general insurance and takaful despite moderating economic growth following the slowdown in major advanced countries,” Hassan Kamil said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The persistent talent shortage, of professionals well versed in both principles, would be one of the main areas that need to be looked at critically in order to remain competitive in the industry, he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition, he said the rapid development of insurance and takaful industry has made it all the more difficult to recruit the right human capital needed for the various job functions. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: none; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(The Star Online / 23 Dec 2013)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-5911769453899995022013-12-30T07:02:00.000+08:002013-12-30T07:02:45.688+08:00Malaysia: Jeddah-based IDB plans to develop Islamic centre of excellence at Tun Razak exchange <h2 style="border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">KUALA LUMPUR: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is considering developing an Islamic Centre of Excellence at the Tun Razak Exchange in the Greater Kuala Lumpur here in three to five years, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said today.</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said the centre of excellence would provide services in Islamic finance and banking-related transactions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The project would be developed in collaboration with the Malaysian government, he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The Malaysian government has always viewed IDB not only as an international institution but also as a partner in charting our nation's growth," he said in his speech at the IDB High Level Regional Forum today.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(News Straits Times / 17 Dec 2013)</span></div>
</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-80072599658032181702013-12-11T08:06:00.000+08:002013-12-11T08:06:07.543+08:00Malaysia: UDA to work with Bank Muamalat in developing RM1b wakaf land<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">PETALING JAYA (Nov 12, 2013):</span> UDA Holdings Bhd will work with Bank Muamalat (M) Bhd to develop 40.47ha of wakaf land with a gross development value of RM1 billion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The land, ready for development, is spread throughout the country and owned by the respective state Islamic Religious Councils.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bank Muamalat will provide the end financing for UDA to develop the land.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">UDA Holdings group managing director Ahmad Abu Bakar said implementation of development projects on the wakaf land will be based on the concept of Ijarah or leasing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Through this concept of Ijarah, ownership of the land to be developed remains with the state Islamic Religious Councils, and only its usage will be transferred," he told reporters after the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the development of the wakaf land between Bank Muamalat and UDA Holdings, here today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"UDA's model and springboard for the development of wakaf land on a commercial basis using the Ijarah concept, is based on the success in developing the 3.94ha belonging to the Penang State Islamic Religious Council," Ahmad said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said the development of wakaf land is still being fine tuned and UDA had also received letters of offer to develop such land in Selangor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To realise the development of wakaf land, UDA acting as the developer, will underwrite the development costs, while also being responsible for marketing the projects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Development of the wakaf land will help add value as well as generate optimum returns," Ahmad said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(The Sun Daily / 12 Nov 2013)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-84831911354342576532013-12-11T08:01:00.000+08:002013-12-11T08:01:25.462+08:00Malaysia: Syariah-compliant securities will attract more Middle East investors: PM<h2 style="border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is confident the introduction of shariah-compliant securities will attract more investments from the Middle East.</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"With the onslaught of a new wave of investments, more job opportunities will be created and this will indirectly make our economy stronger," he said in his latest Facebook posting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said luring foreign investments into the country was Malaysia's top priority towards becoming a high-income status country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Based on this aspiration, the Securities Commission has introduced revised Shariah-compliant securities in order for Malaysia to draw more investments from the Middle-East," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Securities Commission announced yesterday an updated list of Shariah-compliant securities approved by its Shariah Advisory Council (SAC), based on the revised screening</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">methodology announced on June 18, 2012.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Under the revised screening methodology, SAC will adopts a two-tier quantitative approach which applies the business activity and financial ratio benchmarks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The revision took into consideration the rapid development taking place in Malaysia's Islamic finance industry since the Shariah screening methodology was first introduced in 1995. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The revision will potentially spur greater inflow of foreign Islamic funds into Malaysian Shariah-compliant equities, thus expanding the Islamic capital market’s global reach, as outlined in the Capital Market Masterplan 2.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The updated list, which took effect yesterday, will feature a total of 653 Shariah-compliant securities which constitute 71 per cent of the 914 listed securities on Bursa Malaysia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The list includes 16 newly classified Shariah-compliant securities and excludes 158 from the previous list issued in May. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To facilitate transition under the revised screening methodology, investors are given six months from Nov 29, being the effective date of the list of Shariah-Compliant Securities, to dispose off securities that are excluded from the list.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">During the six-months period, dividends received and capital gains realised from the disposal of such securities may be retained by investors, without the need to channel any portion of the dividends and capital gains to Baitulmal and/or charitable bodies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(News Straits Times / 30 Nov 2013)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-13273618154102667482013-12-09T09:36:00.000+08:002013-12-09T09:36:27.668+08:00Islamic banking expected to 40% of Malaysia’s financial sector by 2020<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Islamic financial business is at the heart of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project, with some experts calculating that </span>Sharia-compliant<span style="background-color: white;"> transactions could account for up to half of the business that will go through the new centre when it is complete.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dato’ Azmar Talib, the chief executive of 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the real estate business overseeing the project, says Islamic banking comprises about a quarter of Malaysia’s domestic financial market in terms of assets and financing, but this is expected to reach 40 per cent by 2020, when TRX will be well developed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“We intend to use Malaysia’s strengths, particularly in Islamic finance, to provide the infrastructure that will enable innovation, attract skilled talents and promote ease of doing business in the sector,” he says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Others are even more positive about Kuala Lumpur’s potential in the global race to build the leading Islamic financial market. Many analysts believe the competition will come down to a three-way pull between KL, Dubai and London.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Malaysia has longevity on its side, and a developed domestic market. About 60 per cent of primary market sukuk (Islamic bond) issuance was in KL in the first half of this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mohammad Daud Bakar, the chairman of the Sharia Advisory Council of Malaysia’s central bank, says the country has advantages in Islamic finance, such as a developed pensions funds industry, takaful (insurance) and long-term project finance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“We have established private Islamic ratings agencies that vet the sukuk, and we are the only country with a Sharia-compliant equivalent of the American mortgage firms like Freddie Mae,” Mr Bakar says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But despite the strength of the domestic industry, Malaysia faces some challenges in the international market. “Around 90 per cent of our issuance is in local currency, so we don’t trade in London. Malaysia has never issued any global sukuk. London uses hard currency, and has deep pockets of dollar reserves, which we do not,” he adds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“But I believe the UAE will be a leader in this market in the future. It has dollar reserves and will be in a position to take business from London.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mr Bakar also points to the potential of the Saudi market. “It is booming because of all the infrastructure that needs to be financed there. It’s a booming market and will probably overtake KL in terms of value of issuance, if not volume,” he says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(The National / 07 Dec 2013)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-81946114505421362002013-12-07T09:57:00.000+08:002013-12-07T09:57:04.086+08:00`Malaysia has the best Islamic finance module'<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">finance module' --> MANAMA ( Bahrain ): STANDARD Chartered Saadiq Malaysia (Saadiq Malaysia) believes that Malaysia's Islamic </span>finance<span style="background-color: white;"> module is the closest to perfection and, as such, is utilising it to the betterment of its global operations. "There are best practices everywhere, butwe believe that Malaysia right now has the best module, and that's why we are bringing in talent from all over the world to learn this," Wasim Saifi , Saadiq Malaysia's chief executive officer and global head of Islamic banking, told Business Times at the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC), here, yesterday. "Right now, we are in the process of bringing in talent from our global branches to Malaysia in order to allow them to work and learn the Malaysian module so that when they go back in three years or so, they will be able to emulate the module in their countries," he said. Wasim noted that as of now, Saadiq Malaysia has already brought in two talents from Dubai , two from Pakistan , and two more from Bangladesh and Indonesia , respectively, in early next year. "We're not even looking at the numbers when it comes to bringing in talent into the country," he said, when asked how much investment Saadiq Malaysia was putting into the exercise. "It's really not an issue because at the end of the day, we can have all the </span>technology<span style="background-color: white;"> and the products, but there's no point if we don't have the talent and the expertise to manage them," Wasim said, adding that the exercise, which started this year, will continue till 2015. He also said that Saadiq Malaysia is looking to aggressively grow its small- to medium- sized enterprise (SME ) segment next year, while also looking to raise its product disbursement via 32 existing Standard Chartered branches. "SME is always an important segment not only to Saadiq, but also the group. So we do have plans to increase this next year, but I can't reveal how just yet," he said. Wasim earlier participated in the CEO and industry leaders' power debate in "New Strategic Approaches to Revitalise Global Growth" and was a panelist in the "Expanding the Global Reach and Depth of Islamic Finance" session. The conference is now in its 20th year and saw the participation of 1300 delegates from 50 countries.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(HispanicBusiness.Com / 05 Dec 2013)</span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-11651091506906932422013-12-05T06:52:00.000+08:002013-12-05T06:52:00.381+08:00Malaysia: Support for Hong Kong Islamic financial market<div style="background-color: white; border: none; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">PETALING JAYA: More measures to encourgae the development of the Hong Kong’s Islamic financial market, particularly the sukuk and the Islamic fund management industry were discussed during the first meeting of the Joint Finance Forum which was held in the special administrative region.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The forum was held yesterday following an agreement between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="BANKNE13CF8B8FDE58491E8AFD02525A3BC580">Bank Negara</span> in August to strengthen collaboration between Hong Kong and Malaysia in the area of Islamic finance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The forum participants agreed to identify potential sukuk issuers and encourage cross-border sukuk issuances between Hong Kong and Malaysia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In particular, corporations located in the region could be one of the key sources of potential sukuk issuers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Hong Kong market players supported that sukuk should be offered as one of the possible options or solutions to their clients who have funding needs, as sukuk can be a means for potential issuers to expand their investor base.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Participants also welcomed the initiative of the Hong Kong government to consider issuing sukuk, which will showcase Hong Kong’s Islamic financial platform to local and international issuers and investors,” said HKMA and <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="BANKNE13CF8B8FDE58491E8AFD02525A3BC580">Bank Negara</span> in a joint statement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The participants also agreed to consider launching Islamic funds and make use of the established mutual recognition framework for Islamic funds between Hong Kong and Malaysia to facilitate cross-border Islamic financial activities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This will encourage a wider range of syariah-compliant fund offerings in Hong Kong and Malaysia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The meeting also agreed to enhance the strategic financial linkages between Hong Kong and Malaysia aimed at facilitating cross-border investment flows and creating greater opportunities for investors from the region and other parts of the world, the statement said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">HKMA and BNM acted as facilitators, while the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, the <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="SECURIE3CADC335D9C486695274A5D767EAFF7">Securities and Futures Commission</span> and the <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="CLEARI215754EC07484F5C9F155E12D8B81AB3">Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd</span> also participated in the meeting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(The Star Online / 04 Dec 2013)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-32406973363619473462013-11-29T09:21:00.000+08:002013-11-29T09:21:11.306+08:00Malaysia: New ruling to maintain Muslim business legacy<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">PETALING JAYA: The Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (LIBFC) has cleared the regulatory requirements that will allow Muslim businesses to maintain the core wealth of the company under Islamic beneficiary laws.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, chairman of the Shariah Advisory Council for Bank Negara Malaysia and LIBFC, said a fatwa issued by the council in April has allowed the creation of trusts that will allow the family business to be preserved and passed down to ensuing generations in a non-disruptive way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Traditionally, Islamic wealth is passed down the generations through a system called ‘faraid’, which allows for the wealth to be divided among beneficiaries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mohd Daud said by creating trusts, Muslim family businesses will survive after the death of the principal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Businesses that had been build over a period of time would not be dismantled as Muslims can create waqf or trust foundations that will prevent the dissolution of business empires or lead to the massive erosion of wealth,” he told The Malaysian Reserve in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking on the sidelines of the Islamic Wealth Management forum, Mohd Daud said these trust funds will be professionally managed in LIBFC. “Muslim families are given the option to create a foundation that ensure that wealth will not be subject to ‘faraid’ upon death as the trustee can manage for the benefit of the beneficiaries,” he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mohd Daud, however, said though the new ruling is subject to challenges in the Shariah courts, it is a way to allow high net worth Muslims a way to ensure that their legacy is not broken up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fatwa that was issued in March allows Muslims to equally distribute the assets to sons and daughters and addresses the uneven distribution under ‘faraid’ that is biased towards male heirs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also at the forum, former Chief Justice Zaki Azmi said Islamic finance was sparked off by the discovery of oil in the Middle East that resulted in the demand for banking system that is free from interest and other non-halal practices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Zaki said the sudden rise in wealth of Arab countries created a need for Western banks to adopt Islamic-compliant systems in order to attract Arab money.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“These Muslims wanted to invest but do not want their money to be tainted by transactions which are based on interest and therefore haram.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The monies belonging to billionaire Muslim Arabs were mostly in the western financial institutions, which practise the Jewish banking system (interest or usury-based),” said Zaki.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking at the Islamic Wealth Management Seminar in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Zaki said when Arabs became reluctant to put their money in the western banks, because they will be tainted by haram or illicit dealings, the banks had to tailor the investments to make them halal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“It began in Dubai, hence the beginning of Islamic financing,” Zaki said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said from this spark, other countries, notably Malaysia has spearheaded the move to allow Islamic banking to flourish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“To avoid any challenge that the method of financing was not according to Shariah, a fatwa council was set up giving confidence to investors of the compliance of the products with halal principles,” Zaki added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Islamic banking assets under management is anticipated to reach US$2 trillion (RM6.46 trillion) by 2014 globally, while Malaysian banks are the leading Islamic banks in the South-East Asian region.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Free And Independent / 28 Nov 2013)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-54244689040788570742013-11-15T11:16:00.000+08:002013-11-15T11:16:39.644+08:00London, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur in three-way fight for Islamic finance crown<div style="line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Reuters) - When the British government said last month it would issue its first Islamic bond, the implications went far beyond the debt market: it was a signal that London will not back down in an escalating tussle among cities for Islamic financial <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">business</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">London has long been the default center for international firms to issue sharia-compliant <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">bonds</span>, part of a fast-growing Islamic finance sector that will be worth $2 trillion globally next year, according to consultants Ernst and Young.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But it faces a mounting challenge from two centres: Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dubai, at the heart of the wealthy Gulf, announced a push into Islamic finance this year. It has an entrepreneurial culture which has already made it the Middle East's top conventional banking center, and big state-run firms which can be expected to support the government's strategy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Malaysian capital has a reputation for efficient regulation of Islamic finance and a huge domestic market for local-currency Islamic <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">bonds</span>, which is now starting to attract foreign issuers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The final result of the three cities' rivalry may not be known for years, but thousands of jobs and large amounts of direct investment in companies and real estate are likely to depend on the outcome.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You need a critical mass of borrowers and investors," said Khalid Howladar, senior credit officer at <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">Moody's</span> Investors Service. "You have multiple centres that are looking to establish their pre-eminence in the Islamic space."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">GROWTH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Islamic banking, which obeys religious principles such as bans on interest and pure monetary speculation, is still dwarfed by conventional banking with over $100 trillion of assets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But the top 20 Islamic <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">banks</span> have been growing 16 percent annually in the last three years, far outpacing their conventional rivals, according to Ernst and Young. That makes Islamic finance tempting for many non-Muslim institutions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In an unstable global market environment, the conservatism of Islamic financial structures may be helping the industry. Its access to big pools of Islamic investment funds in the Gulf oil-producing states and southeast Asia is certainly a factor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over the past year, the industry has been expanding from its traditional bases in those two regions across many nations with significant Muslim populations, from North Africa and Kazakhstan to Nigeria and Djibouti. European financial firms have tapped Islamic funds by issuing sharia-compliant bonds, known as sukuk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That promises big rewards for the financial centres which arrange issues of sukuk and other Islamic products, employ the experts who structure them, and host the scholars who vet them for religious permissibility.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The pent-up demand for short-term papers to manage liquidity in Islamic finance is huge, and to meet this will require other market players to come in," Malaysia's central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz told Reuters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dubai laid claim to such <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">business</span> in January this year when its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, announced a drive to develop the emirate as an Islamic financial center.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Its main competitors responded. In March, Britain launched a publicity campaign involving government junior ministers and private sector executives to burnish London's Islamic credentials.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In May and June, Malaysia took steps to strengthen its regulation of the industry while making it easier for its Islamic insurers to invest their money overseas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SUKUK</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The most high-profile - and most cut-throat - area of competition between the three centres is arranging sukuk. London has led in attracting issues by big international companies because of the massive size of its conventional financial <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">markets</span> and its globally respected legal system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Malaysia, however, has the advantage of a vibrant market in local-currency sukuk, thanks to a Muslim-majority population; Kuala Lumpur has accounted for about two-thirds of all sukuk issued globally this year. That is persuading some foreign firms, from as far afield as Kazakhstan, to issue in Malaysia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dubai lists relatively few sukuk on its exchanges; traditionally its state-owned companies have gone to London to issue. But a determined campaign by Dubai's government is now convincing its companies to issue at home, and could attract business from firms in neighboring Gulf states.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">British Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to be trying to head off that threat last month with his plan for Britain to become the first Western country to issue a sovereign sukuk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The UK sukuk announcement has really helped to galvanize the market," said Farmida Bi, European head of Islamic finance at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright in London, predicting the sovereign issue would help to trigger corporate issues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, Dubai won a victory this month when the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank, which has long operated sukuk issuance programs in London and Kuala Lumpur, said it would set up a $10 billion program on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I do believe Dubai can reach a leadership position, although progress has been slow and it will take a few years to reach the level of Malaysia," said Apostolos Bantis, emerging <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">markets</span> credit analyst at Commerzbank in London.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because London is not located within a natural pool of sukuk issuers and European customers will remain a limited group, its position looks weakest among the three centres from a long-term perspective, Bantis added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">TAKAFUL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other areas of competition include Islamic insurance, known as takaful, and asset management. Once again, London's sheer size gives it an advantage, while Kuala Lumpur benefits from its location in a vast, predominantly Muslim area of southeast Asia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">British-based firm Cobalt struck a blow for London earlier this year by developing a novel syndication model for takaful. The model offers A-rated capacity which most carriers in the Gulf lack, said chief executive Richard Bishop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This could clash with Dubai's plans to expand in takaful. Abdulaziz al-Ghurair, head of the authority overseeing Dubai's financial center, said last month that since there were only 19 Islamic re-insurance firms globally, takaful firms were forced to transfer some of their risk to conventional re-insurers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That creates a window for Dubai to set up Islamic re-insurers, he said without detailing how this would be done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ultimately, much will depend on which financial center can establish "thought leadership" in Islamic business, creating standards and structures which come to be accepted across regions and, ideally, across the global industry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Traditionally, Malaysia has been influential because of its centralized model of regulation, which minimizes disputes among different boards of Islamic scholars. But some Gulf scholars view Malaysian regulation as too liberal, arguing that it permits structures which too closely mimic conventional finance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dubai has a chance to chart a path between these two camps; it has said that after consulting the industry, it will issue sukuk standards that are more detailed and comprehensive than others, hopefully resolving conflicts between the regions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"This is very important. We think it's a basic requirement but it doesn't exist as we speak. But this will not come from the sharia scholars - it has to come from the industry," said Hamed Buamim, director-general of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, which is promoting the emirate's Islamic push.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Reuters / 12 Nov 2013)</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-47887677768827376102013-10-31T21:22:00.001+08:002013-10-31T21:46:54.083+08:00Malaysia: Training gap overshadows Malaysia's Islamic finance growth<h2 class="headline" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-weight: normal; line-height: 48px; margin: 20px 0px 30px; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">KUALA
LUMPUR: Finding a job is often harder than expected for graduates hoping to
enter Malaysia's Islamic banking industry, the world's second-largest with
US$124 billion in assets - employers are proving choosy about qualifications.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Thousands
of students, a large number of them Muslims from across the globe, have flocked
to the many <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> courses offered in Malaysia,
seeing them as springboards to a career.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Malaysia has
an estimated 50 course providers and 18 universities which offer <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> degrees, and it boasts the largest
academic output globally. The country has published 169 research papers
on <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> in the last three years, according to
data from <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Thomson Reuters</span>.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But
while the Malaysian Islamic banking industry's output in monetary terms is
growing about 20 percent annually, employment in it is expanding at less than
half that rate - even though an additional 22,400 jobs are needed to support
the growth, according to a blueprint for the financial sector prepared by the
central bank.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Malaysia is
experiencing a problem faced by <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> sectors
around the world: training and qualifications often do not provide the levels
of specialism and sophistication that employers need.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The
problem is limiting growth of the industry and, some say, stifling innovation
that is necessary to bring <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> fully
into line with religious principles, and prevent its products from merely being
pale reflections of conventional financial instruments.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"A
common misunderstanding of these young graduates is that they believe there is
such a thing as a generic job in <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span>. In
reality, the industry is looking to employ specialists," said Raymond
Madden, chief executive of the <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Asian Institute of Finance
(AIF)</span>, set up by Malaysia's central bank to develop human
capital for the region's financial industry.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">This
means graduates are often inadequately equipped, and few in the industry are
actively trying to solve the problem, he said.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"It's
a major issue - nobody wants to take ownership of training graduates in areas
that are most needed by the industry," added Sofiza Azmi, AIF's head
of strategy and development.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> sector's need for specific skills in
risk management as well as internal audit and governance, plus a basic
grounding in sharia law, is not being communicated, she said.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Moving
forward you need to understand where the banks are going, how they are going to
expand, what their plans are. Then you can map out their talent needs."</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">YOUNG</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">One
reason for the skills mismatch in <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> is
the youth of the industry; it was born in its modern form in the 1970s, and in
many countries has only become a mainstream industry in the past decade.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The
industry has moved into relatively complex areas, such as Islamic money market
instruments and hybrid Islamic bonds with equity-liked characteristics, only in
the last few years.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The
fragmentation of Islamic financial regulation, with sharia boards and national
regulators in various countries taking different approaches to some core
products and concepts, may also be an obstacle to effective training.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Employers
could provide some of that specialised training, but banks
in Malaysia have so far been reluctant to do so because of the time
and cost involved. Instead they tend to poach skilled staff from rivals, a
quicker and cheaper alternative.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"The
banks will have to step up. If they need people specialising in areas, they
will have to train internally," Azmi added.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Universities
also need to revamp their curricula to suit industry needs, but it inevitably
takes a long time to evaluate and implement changes, she said.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Malaysian
authorities have responded by trying to intervene directly in the job market;
the <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance</span> (INCEIF)
was set up by Malaysia's central bank in 2009 to help with training.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Syed Othman Alhabshi</span>, INCEIF's chief academic officer, said
the centre's signature Chartered <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic Finance</span> Professional
qualification, a one-year postgraduate programme, had only attracted a handful
of industry executives to its staff.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Only
five of the centre's full-time lecturers boast actual exposure to the sector
and most have retired from active involvement in the corporate world, he said.
The centre's 12-member professional development panel, which meets quarterly,
has only two Islamic bank heads, from <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Bank Islam</span> and OCBC Al-Amin.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">About
60 percent of INCEIF's graduates find employment within six months, according
to an internal survey, the centre said, declining to provide further details of
the survey.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">While
the centre's programmes have evolved over time, its graduates are not designed
to be specialists, so the task of further training falls on banks, said Syed.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Our
first job is to train them. If they can get a job here, its fine. But if not,
we can't do much. It's up to the employer whether they want to take the extra
mile."</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Syed
added that job opportunities for <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> graduates
were limited partly because companies such as <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Maybank</span> Islamic,
the largest Islamic bank in Asia, did not need large workforces as they
could leverage staff from their parent firms - in <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Maybank</span>'s
case, Malayan Banking.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">AIF
hopes a new advisory panel comprising representatives from across the industry
can close the gap.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">A
new Financial Services Talent Council, being planned by the central bank,
is to include individuals from the education ministry, Islamic banks and
universities, in the hope of setting a national agenda for the industry's
talent needs.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"If
you've got this diversity of people to discuss a particular issue, you'll be
able to come up with a better solution," Azmi said.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">ACCESS</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Many
foreign students expect easy access to Malaysia's job market when they
obtain local <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance</span> qualifications,
but some are turned down because banks face costly, time-consuming visa
requirements to hire foreign students.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"They
waste one year here, and many of them are upset with this," said Omar
Alaeddin, an INCEIF graduate and current member of its student representative
council.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">So
many students return to their home countries with Malaysian <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Islamic finance </span>qualifications. This has the benefit
of spreading knowledge globally, but the students can also have difficulty
finding jobs back home.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"At
the beginning they come here thinking there are hundreds of banks and
employees," said Alaeddin, who teaches risk management and sharia auditing
at Universiti Kuala Lumpur.</span></span></div>
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<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(The
Star Online / 29 Oct 2013)</span></span><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-86522123786472937632013-10-31T06:54:00.000+08:002013-10-31T06:54:43.152+08:00MBSB, unit plans RM7b Sukuk programme<div style="background-color: white; border: none; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">KUALA LUMPUR: <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="MALAYS3E99A25813224CBA913D40791545286D">Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB)</span> and its unit plan to undertake up to RM7bil Sukuk programme.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">MBSB said on Monday it proposed to set up a 15-year structured covered Sukuk commodity Murabahah programme of up to RM3bil which is part of its fundraising exercise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It also said its unit Jana Kapital Sdn Bhd proposed to set up a 16-year Sukuk commodity Murabahah programme of up to RM4bil.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">MBSB said it holds the shares in Jana Kapital on trust for a charitable organisation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The proposed establishment of the Sukuk Murabahah programme is to facilitate the issuance of structured covered Sukuk under the structured covered Sukuk programme,” it said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">MBSB said the two programmes were approved by the <span class="knx_highlight" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" value="SECURIB8101697885F419DA925156E5ACDEB6C">Securities Commission</span> via its letters dated Oct 25.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(The Star Online / 28 Oct 2013)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310461302562384341.post-27481244185655355132013-10-31T06:50:00.001+08:002013-10-31T21:31:58.755+08:00Malaysia's Maybank launches Islamic asset management unit<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Islamic asset management sector is gradually making a comeback after years of stagnation, having seen a total of 88 funds liquidated globally in the past two years as slumping equity <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">markets</span> reduced investor interest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Firms such as Britain's Threadneedle Investments, which set-up in Malaysia this month, now plan Islamic funds that screen their portfolios following religious guidelines such as bans on <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">tobacco</span>, alcohol and gambling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The new unit would leverage the Maybank group's network of <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">business</span> lines, which range from consumer banking to Islamic insurance, as well as its geographical presence across Asia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The missing link within the Maybank group is Islamic asset management," Nor Azamin Salleh, chief executive of Maybank asset management said on Tuesday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The new unit aims to launch Asian-themed investment funds using a bottom-up investment strategy, with products to be marketed primarily in Malaysia and Indonesia, Salleh said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"We are looking at trying to bring an ASEAN plus North Asia product. Our approach is more on the ground, a bottom-up approach," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Earlier this month, Maybank acquired Indonesian asset management firm PT GMT Aset Manajemen, and it would also explore opportunities in the Middle East through Maybank Investment Bank's stake in Saudi Arabia's Anfaal Capital, Salleh added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Reuters / 29 Oct 2013)</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: <a href="http://www.alfalahconsulting.com/">www.alfalahconsulting.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: </span><a href="http://www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Islamic Investment Malaysia: </span><a href="http://www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0