SC Grants Two Additional Islamic Fund Management Licences

Bernama:The Securities Commission (SC) has granted two additional Islamic Fund Management licenses to India's leading fund management company, Reliance Capital Asset Management and to Kuwait-based Global Investment House, the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

In addition, he said leading firms based in Malaysia, such as Prudential, were using the country as their regional centre for Islamic fund management activities, reaffirming the confidence in it as an international Islamic financial centre.

"There are also several other leading firms being reviewed by the SC for licenses," he said in his address at the opening of the 5th Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum (KLIFF 2008) here Tuesday.
The event was organised by the Centre for Research and Training (CERT) and co-hosted by the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority (LOFSA) and the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) in collaboration with Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes (DJIM), the International Institute of Islamic Finance (IIIF) and the firm of Hisham, Sobri & Kadir (HSK).

This year, the KLIFF 2008 offers an integrated basis for promoting an Islamic Financial system dialogue among speakers and delegates to foster the orderly development of an efficient, competitive, sound and innovative Islamic Finance in a rapidly changing global environment.

At a press conference later, Najib when asked if more licenses would be issued,said:"There are other things but we will announce it when the time comes.

"There is much interest in identifying Malaysia as the hub for Islamic finance," he said, adding that, he did not want to preempt anything.