Egypt may lose out to Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya in attracting Muslim wealth after political unrest forced the North African country to postpone plans to introduce Islamic bond regulation.
Egypt delayed the release of a timeline for the guidelines of corporate Islamic bonds sales to May from the first quarter, following protests that led to the removal of former President Hosni Mubarak, said Ashraf al-Sharkawy, chairman of the Cairo-based Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority. Nigeria plans to license at least two Shariah-compliant institutions by year-end and Mauritius set minimum disclosure standards for financial statements from banks offering Islamic services.
“Egypt is one of the biggest markets in the region, but the problem so far has been the lack of regulation,” Abdel Hamid Abou Mousa, the chief executive officer of Cairo-based Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt, one of three Shariah-complaint lenders in the country, said by phone April 6. “When we have sukuk no doubt they will have a market among Gulf investors who are looking for places for their money.” Faisal Islamic may issue sukuk once regulations are in place, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment