1
Islamic Cost of Capital
Ijlal Alvi
CEO - IIFM
2
Contents
Current State Analysis of Islamic Capital
Markets vs. Conventional
Present Market Focus
High Priority Development Areas
Cost of Capital of IFSI
LIBOR as a Reference Rate
Alternatives to LIBOR
2
3
IIFM
The IIFM is an international infrastructure, non-
profit organization, established through the
collective efforts of five countries and one
multilateral institution: Bahrain, Brunei, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Sudan and Islamic Development Bank.
IIFM’s Principal Objective is to establish, develop
and promote the Islamic Capital and Money Market
on the principles of Shari’ah
IIFM’s role is that of a developer and catalyst of the
Islamic financial market encompassing both the
short-term money market and the long-term capital
market
4
IIFM- Vision & Mission
Vision:
Active and well regulated trading and capital flows
across the full spectrum of Shari’a compliant
financial instruments internationally
Mission:
To achieve the Vision by catalyzing both national
and international trading infrastructure, product
innovation and information flow within strong,
transparent and well regulated standards and
guidelines. Promoting acceptance and integration
with mainstream markets.
3
5
IIFM – Areas of Immediate Focus
Standardization of market related issues such as
contracts and products
Guidelines and Procedures relating to primary and
secondary market
International Islamic Trading and Liquidity
management system covering aspects such as trading
infrastructure, clearing and settlement
Research and Development and Specialized events and
forums to disseminate information and create awareness
on Islamic Capital and Short Term Financial Market
Development of templates for capital market segment
of the Islamic Financial Services Industry
6
Current State Analysis of Islamic
Capital Markets vs. Conventional
- Equity
Accepted
- Acceptances
- Commercial Paper
Developed, but not
negotiable
- Commodity futures
- Financial Futures
Under Development
-Bonds
-Floating rate Bonds
-Securitized loans
-Index-linked
securities
-Convertibles
Emerging
-Preferred Stocks
-Primes & Scores
-Warrants
-Synthetics
-Swaps
-Options
Non-Existent
4
7
Present Market Focus
Product Innovation
Sukuks and new Structures
Islamic Asset Backed & Mortgage Backed
Securities
Islamic Funds – Mutual and Specific
Islamic Real Estate and REITS
Hedge Techniques and Derivatives
8
High Priority Development Areas
I. Liquidity Management issues
Under-developed or non-existent Islamic Money
Market
Lack of adequate Shari’a complaint Money Market
instruments
Risk Management techniques
Availability of quality assets
Lender of last resort (LLR) privileges for day-to-
day liquidity management
5
9
High Priority Development Areas
II. Sukuk issues
Non existence secondary market mainly due to the
lack of critical mass.
Few market makers
Secondary Market Pricing - area of inefficiency
and requires more transparency
Usage of Sukuk as a monetary management tool by
regulatory bodies
Lack of Shari’a harmonization
10
High Priority Development Areas
III. Standardization
Standardization of products, contracts and related
issues need to identified and developed, perhaps
on a self-regulatory basis
Development of Guidelines and templates
Regulatory Framework - enforceability up to
regulators
6
11
Cost of Capital for IFSI
Cost of Capital is the cost of finance needed to acquire
the physical capital
Cost of capital determines the minimum return
required by the firm on capital deployed
In the absence of an Islamic Rate of Return, IFI’s use
the interest rate mechanism (LIBOR) as a benchmark
for procurement and placement of funds
Due to current market focus and high priority
development areas, little emphasis is being made on
developing an alternative to LIBOR
As the Islamic Financial Services Industry is no longer
a niche market, perhaps an Islamic Rate of Return is
needed
12
LIBOR – Halal or Haram?
Shari’a Scholars ruling is that if the transaction fulfils
all the Shari’a requirements, then merely using an
interest rate as a benchmark for determining the profit
of the underlying instrument does not render the
transaction as haram or invalid, because the
transaction itself does not contain interest
Some Scholars are of the view that this practice should
be phased out, because
• Using the rate of interest as an ideal for halal business is
not desirable and
• It does not advance the basic philosophy of Islamic
economy having no impact on the system of distribution
7
13
An Alternative to LIBOR- Abbas
Mirakhor Approach
Proposes that Cost of Capital can be measured
without resort to a fixed and predetermined
interest rate
The benchmark could be created based on Tobin q
theory
Main assumption:
• In the absence of a fixed and predetermined rate of
interest, equity financing becomes the only source of
financial capital, and as such, the economy’s
financial system becomes equity-based and hence,
the equity market would provide a measure of the
cost of capital
14
An Alternative to LIBOR- Sheikh
Taqi Usmani Approach
A Benchmark can be achieved by creating a common
pool which invests in asset-backed instruments like
musharakah, ijarah etc.
If majority assets are in tangible form, its units can
be sold and purchased on the basis of their net asset
value determined on periodical basis
These units may be negotiable and maybe used for
overnight financing
The banks having surplus liquidity can purchase
these units and when they need liquidity, they can
sell them
This arrangement may create inter-bank market and
the value of the units may serve as
an indicator for determining the profit
8
15
An Alternative to LIBOR-
Malaysian Approach
Bank Negara Malaysia introduced the “Framework of
the Rate of Return” to standardize the methodology
on the calculation of distributable profits and the
derivation of the rates of return to the depositors
The objectives of the framework are:
• Set the minimum standard in calculating the rates of
return
• Provide the same playing level and term of reference
for the Islamic banking institutions (IBIs) in deriving
the rates of return; and
• Provide Bank Negara Malaysia with an effective
yardstick to assess the level of efficiency of the IBIs
16
An Alternative to LIBOR-
Malaysian Approach
The framework comprises two main components i.e.
the calculation table and the distribution table
The calculation table prescribes the income and
expense items that need to be reported and sets out the
standard calculation in deriving the net distributable
income
The distribution table sets out the distribution of the
net distributable income posted from the calculation
table among demand, savings and general investment
deposits according to their structures, maturities and
the pre-agreed profit sharing ratios between the bank
and the depositors
9
17
An Alternative to LIBOR-
Malaysian Approach
Example: Mudarabah Inter-bank Investments (MII)
The rate of return is based on the rate of gross profit
before distribution for investments of one year of the
investee bank
The profit sharing ratio is negotiable among both
parties
The investor bank at the time of negotiation would not
know what the return would be, as the actual return
will be crystallized towards the end of the investment
period
The principal invested shall be repaid at the end of the
period, together with a share of the profit arising from
the used funds by the investee bank
18
Phone No: +973 1750 0161 Fax: +973 1750 0171 Email: iifm@bateclo.com.bh
P. O. Box 11454, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

Alhuda CIBE - Presentation on Islamic Cost of Capital by Jilal Alvi

  • 1.
    1 Islamic Cost ofCapital Ijlal Alvi CEO - IIFM 2 Contents Current State Analysis of Islamic Capital Markets vs. Conventional Present Market Focus High Priority Development Areas Cost of Capital of IFSI LIBOR as a Reference Rate Alternatives to LIBOR
  • 2.
    2 3 IIFM The IIFM isan international infrastructure, non- profit organization, established through the collective efforts of five countries and one multilateral institution: Bahrain, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sudan and Islamic Development Bank. IIFM’s Principal Objective is to establish, develop and promote the Islamic Capital and Money Market on the principles of Shari’ah IIFM’s role is that of a developer and catalyst of the Islamic financial market encompassing both the short-term money market and the long-term capital market 4 IIFM- Vision & Mission Vision: Active and well regulated trading and capital flows across the full spectrum of Shari’a compliant financial instruments internationally Mission: To achieve the Vision by catalyzing both national and international trading infrastructure, product innovation and information flow within strong, transparent and well regulated standards and guidelines. Promoting acceptance and integration with mainstream markets.
  • 3.
    3 5 IIFM – Areasof Immediate Focus Standardization of market related issues such as contracts and products Guidelines and Procedures relating to primary and secondary market International Islamic Trading and Liquidity management system covering aspects such as trading infrastructure, clearing and settlement Research and Development and Specialized events and forums to disseminate information and create awareness on Islamic Capital and Short Term Financial Market Development of templates for capital market segment of the Islamic Financial Services Industry 6 Current State Analysis of Islamic Capital Markets vs. Conventional - Equity Accepted - Acceptances - Commercial Paper Developed, but not negotiable - Commodity futures - Financial Futures Under Development -Bonds -Floating rate Bonds -Securitized loans -Index-linked securities -Convertibles Emerging -Preferred Stocks -Primes & Scores -Warrants -Synthetics -Swaps -Options Non-Existent
  • 4.
    4 7 Present Market Focus ProductInnovation Sukuks and new Structures Islamic Asset Backed & Mortgage Backed Securities Islamic Funds – Mutual and Specific Islamic Real Estate and REITS Hedge Techniques and Derivatives 8 High Priority Development Areas I. Liquidity Management issues Under-developed or non-existent Islamic Money Market Lack of adequate Shari’a complaint Money Market instruments Risk Management techniques Availability of quality assets Lender of last resort (LLR) privileges for day-to- day liquidity management
  • 5.
    5 9 High Priority DevelopmentAreas II. Sukuk issues Non existence secondary market mainly due to the lack of critical mass. Few market makers Secondary Market Pricing - area of inefficiency and requires more transparency Usage of Sukuk as a monetary management tool by regulatory bodies Lack of Shari’a harmonization 10 High Priority Development Areas III. Standardization Standardization of products, contracts and related issues need to identified and developed, perhaps on a self-regulatory basis Development of Guidelines and templates Regulatory Framework - enforceability up to regulators
  • 6.
    6 11 Cost of Capitalfor IFSI Cost of Capital is the cost of finance needed to acquire the physical capital Cost of capital determines the minimum return required by the firm on capital deployed In the absence of an Islamic Rate of Return, IFI’s use the interest rate mechanism (LIBOR) as a benchmark for procurement and placement of funds Due to current market focus and high priority development areas, little emphasis is being made on developing an alternative to LIBOR As the Islamic Financial Services Industry is no longer a niche market, perhaps an Islamic Rate of Return is needed 12 LIBOR – Halal or Haram? Shari’a Scholars ruling is that if the transaction fulfils all the Shari’a requirements, then merely using an interest rate as a benchmark for determining the profit of the underlying instrument does not render the transaction as haram or invalid, because the transaction itself does not contain interest Some Scholars are of the view that this practice should be phased out, because • Using the rate of interest as an ideal for halal business is not desirable and • It does not advance the basic philosophy of Islamic economy having no impact on the system of distribution
  • 7.
    7 13 An Alternative toLIBOR- Abbas Mirakhor Approach Proposes that Cost of Capital can be measured without resort to a fixed and predetermined interest rate The benchmark could be created based on Tobin q theory Main assumption: • In the absence of a fixed and predetermined rate of interest, equity financing becomes the only source of financial capital, and as such, the economy’s financial system becomes equity-based and hence, the equity market would provide a measure of the cost of capital 14 An Alternative to LIBOR- Sheikh Taqi Usmani Approach A Benchmark can be achieved by creating a common pool which invests in asset-backed instruments like musharakah, ijarah etc. If majority assets are in tangible form, its units can be sold and purchased on the basis of their net asset value determined on periodical basis These units may be negotiable and maybe used for overnight financing The banks having surplus liquidity can purchase these units and when they need liquidity, they can sell them This arrangement may create inter-bank market and the value of the units may serve as an indicator for determining the profit
  • 8.
    8 15 An Alternative toLIBOR- Malaysian Approach Bank Negara Malaysia introduced the “Framework of the Rate of Return” to standardize the methodology on the calculation of distributable profits and the derivation of the rates of return to the depositors The objectives of the framework are: • Set the minimum standard in calculating the rates of return • Provide the same playing level and term of reference for the Islamic banking institutions (IBIs) in deriving the rates of return; and • Provide Bank Negara Malaysia with an effective yardstick to assess the level of efficiency of the IBIs 16 An Alternative to LIBOR- Malaysian Approach The framework comprises two main components i.e. the calculation table and the distribution table The calculation table prescribes the income and expense items that need to be reported and sets out the standard calculation in deriving the net distributable income The distribution table sets out the distribution of the net distributable income posted from the calculation table among demand, savings and general investment deposits according to their structures, maturities and the pre-agreed profit sharing ratios between the bank and the depositors
  • 9.
    9 17 An Alternative toLIBOR- Malaysian Approach Example: Mudarabah Inter-bank Investments (MII) The rate of return is based on the rate of gross profit before distribution for investments of one year of the investee bank The profit sharing ratio is negotiable among both parties The investor bank at the time of negotiation would not know what the return would be, as the actual return will be crystallized towards the end of the investment period The principal invested shall be repaid at the end of the period, together with a share of the profit arising from the used funds by the investee bank 18 Phone No: +973 1750 0161 Fax: +973 1750 0171 Email: [email protected] P. O. Box 11454, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain