Bahrain-based international standard-setting body, International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) has announced it now has a roadmap on standardisation of "sukuk al ijara" structure on a priority basis.

The announcement follows an industry consultative meeting titled sukuk standardisation (Structures, documentation and Guidelines), hosted by Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), according to a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"The objective of the consultation was to discuss how the industry, given the rapid growth in sukuk issuances, needed to move forward through creating standards," IIFM chief executive Ijlal Ahmed Alvi said.

Through a concept paper presented at the consultation, IIFM sought to highlight sukuk structures particularly ijara, mudarabah, wakalah, musharakah and convertible/exchangeable sukuk in line with IIFM comprehensive development process.

"In order to maintain the high level of confidence, transparency and global Islamic market unification, the development of IIFM sukuk standards will play a major role in the orderly and sustainable development of the market," Alvi added.

The discussion was led by Sharia scholars like Shaikh Dr Nizam Yaquby, Shaikh Dr Yousef Al Shubaily, Shaikh Esam Mohammed Ishaq, Shaikh Dr Mohamad Akram Laldin, Shaikh Dr Muhammad Imran Usmani and Dr Eltigani Abdelgadir Ahmad as well as IIFM in-house Sharia Head Dr Ahmad Rufai.

Attended by experts including regulators, Sharia scholars, senior representatives from Islamic financial institutions, local and international law firms, accounting firms, consultants, rating agencies, multilateral development institutions (International Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank Group and so on) and representatives from the industry.

"At DIFC, we continue to support the growth of the Islamic finance pipeline by creating a business environment conducive for these activities and collaborating on events, such as the IIFM consultative meeting, to encourage discourse from industry experts on the topic," DIFC Authority chief strategy and business development officer Chirag Shah said.

Sukuk al ijara implies partial ownership in an asset. – TradeArabia News Service