CAPITAL MARKETS - Shariah-Compliant Hedging Derivatives Start in Malaysia: Islamic Finance

Standard Chartered Plc and Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd. plan to offer Shariah-compliant derivatives in Malaysia that will allow investors to hedge against interest rates and commodity prices.

Standard Chartered, the U.K. bank that earns most of its profit from emerging markets, will begin selling contracts in the first quarter that provide protection from fluctuations in the cost of items such as rice and oil, according to an e-mailed reply to questions yesterday. Bank Islam Malaysia, the country’s oldest Islamic lender, will offer swaps that allow two parties to exchange different forms of payments from an underlying asset.

FINANCE - IILM - Retooling Liquidity Management

Islamic repos, or repurchase agreements, provide a new tool in creating and managing liquidity in the Islamic interbank money market. SCOTT WEBER identifies what instruments are available in the market and the extent to which they are being utilized.

Islamic repos aim to provide Islamic financial institutions with an additional avenue to source their funding requirements, providing banks with relevant tools to effectively manage their liquidity needs allowing the banks to finance its asset inventory.