ISLAMIC FINANCE
The potential for growth While Shariah principles align well with contemporary considerations and Islamic banking and finance’s market share continues its global expansion, Ahsan Ali, Managing Director, Global Head of Islamic Origination at Standard Chartered Bank explains that harmonisation will be a catalyst for further growth
Ahsan Ali, Managing Director, Global Head of Islamic Origination, Standard Chartered Bank
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Banking and Finance news in the MEA market
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ukuk instruments remain more complex and time consuming for issuers when compared with conventional bonds, so do you expect to see meaningful moves toward streamlining of Sukuk issuance to heighten attractiveness?
In the early stages of Sukuk market development, they were certainly viewed as complex structures that required additional time for structuring, documentation and execution. However, over the past decade the Sukuk issuance process and documentation has become much more streamlined as the parties involved (such as legal counsels, rating agencies, Shariah scholars, arrangers, issuers and investors) have come up the learning curve in terms of their knowledge and understanding of this product. I believe that currently the process is quite streamlined and manageable, however, moves to further standardize are always welcome. The Sukuk instrument overall remains attractive to issuers because it provides investor diversification and access to the Islamic pool of liquidity, which is growing in line with the market share of Islamic finance in the core Islamic countries. Do you see the GCC/Middle East taking a lead over other Islamic finance centres in Islamic financial activity and innovation as the world emerges from the pandemic? As a leading international bank with an Islamic business spread over multiple markets, we have had the privilege to work with policy makers and regulators across the globe in helping develop the regulatory infrastructure. Our experience has been that all centres of Islamic finance both collaborate and compete in a healthy way, with a common goal
