international islamic financial market to hold islamic finance industry briefing session in london

The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM), along with its working partners, has achieved key milestones in the development of Islamic Capital Market (ICM) instruments.

The Bahrain-based organization is spearheading the development of a Master Agreement for Islamic Hedging, a Master Agreement for Islamic Treasury Murabaha Contracts, as well as standardised documentation for sukuk and a Shari’ah-compliant repurchase agreement (Repo).

Progress on the three projects will be the focus of a briefing session being organized by the IIFM in London. The event, on 4 February 2008, will be attended by over 70 participants representing the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA), HM Treasury, London Stock Exchange (LSE), London Metal Exchange (LME), legal firms and UK-based Islamic and conventional financial institutions.

The industry briefing session, which is sponsored by the European Islamic Investment Bank (EIIB) Plc, UK and Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank, follows the 18th meeting of the IIFM Board of Directors. The Board Meeting is hosted by the EIIB.

The briefing session will provide guidance to a selective group of industry experts of Islamic finance on industry trends and future directions as well as project specific presentations. The projects were agreed with the industry during briefing sessions held in Bahrain and London during 2007.

“IIFM has been working hard to advance a number of key projects which are critical to the next phase of development of a truly globalised Islamic finance industry and Islamic capital markets,” said Mr.

Ijlal Alvi, Chief Executive Officer of the IIFM, an international market development institution focused on the development of the global Islamic capital and money markets.

The centre piece of IIFM action plan is the Master Agreement for Islamic Hedging, a key tool in risk management, which the IIFM is working on in conjunction with the International Swaps & Derivatives Association (ISDA).

The two organizations are jointly developing the agreement for documenting privately negotiated Shari’ah compliant hedging transactions.

The IIFM is working with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) on development requirements for Islamic primary and secondary market instruments, including a Shari’ah-compliant Repo.

The work also includes developing recommendations, standard documentation, standard language and guidance for sukuk issuance (primary market); rules and recommendations for secondary market transactions involving sukuk and other Islamic financial instruments; as well as the provision of on-line transaction matching, reporting and confirmation services for sukuk and other Islamic financial instruments.

For the Master Agreement for Islamic Treasury Murabaha Contracts, IIFM has commissioned a prominent international legal firm to develop the relevant legal documents.

“IIFM is working very closely with Islamic financial institutions in developing these initiatives and projects, which were earlier identified as being most needed by the industry,” said Mr. Alvi.

“We are gratified by the support we have received from the industry and from our working partners, ICMA and ISDA, which has enabled us to achieve significant progress on projects of such magnitude.”

As an organization focused on the promotion and development of the global Islamic capital and money markets, the IIFM is committed to engaging industry and market practitioners from different global geographical and jurisdictional areas before embarking on projects.

“Engaging the industry is also critical for our ultimate goal of developing market practices, documents and products which will be accepted and adopted by Islamic financial institutions all over the world.

This certainly is a challenging task and can only be accomplished with the support of all industry participants including Shari’ah Scholars,” said Mr. Alvi.