Dubai Bourse all set to kick off wave of Sukuk activity

31/01/2013 07:46 AST

Dubai is striving hard to become the global centre of Islamic Finance and taking bold steps by introducing initiatives in the industry to give it a tremendous boost. In latest of the initiatives, Bourse Dubai is all set to kick off a new wave of Sukuk activity.

The Chairman of Bourse Dubai, Essa Kazim, who owns the UAE’s biggest financial markets, is looking forward to a wave in sukuk activity as Dubai seeks to become a global centre for Islamic business.

Kazim, who is also Secretary to the committee set up to oversee the Islamic strategy, stated, “Three years ago, Nasdaq Dubai was the biggest market in the world for sukuk issuance. It is possible to regain that advantage if we see a wave of new sukuk and other Islamic activity.”

“Sukuk issuance and listing is one of the areas where Dubai can be a hub, as part of the broader strategy to capitalize on our existing infrastructure and build a full Islamic economy,” he added.

He also said that implementation of the strategy is still at “an early stage.”

The “essential thing” was to create a regulatory body in Dubai to supervise the Islamic strategy, unifying the Shariah-compliant boards that exist in most financial institutions in the UAE.

Kazim said, “There is a need to converge towards one standard. There is of course debate among Islamic scholars, but it would be good as a first step to develop a Dubai standard.”

The Dubai Financial Market, of which Kazim is also Chief Executive, has branded itself as a “Shariah-compliant stock exchange.”

IslamOnline