Areas and tools

Hedge Funds

The market for Sharia-compliant hedge funds is potentially very wide and with the creation of proper structures and credible fund managers and brokers it will experience a great expansion. The authorization of the allowed strategies by the Sharia committees and the resolution, for example, of the issue of short selling shall help the marketing in 2008 of the first products

Exchange Traded Funds

The Sharia-compliant ETS are experiencing a strong diffusion thank to their flexibility and low transaction costs. Currently, the most important ETS fund is listed in Malaysia

Equity funds

Private Equity is a natural fit for Islamic investors since at the core of Shari'ah principles money should be directed to the real economy through investing in businesses that offer ethically acceptable products and services. This means that returns should be earned through active involvement and participation in the business risk in Shari'ah compliant investments

The market for the ‘sharia-compliant bonds’ is thriving and a growing number of countries are considering tapping the Sukuk market to diversify their investors base and deepen domestic capital markets

The most important developments for the implementation of the Islamic home purchase plan are the result of a series of regulatory changes that have affected the U.S. (letters of interpretation of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency n° 806 of 17 October 1997 and n° 867 of 1 June 1999 and authorizations of 1999 and 2000) and the UK with the consultancy group on Islamic mortgages held by the Bank of England. In Australia and Canada the existing laws on cooperatives have been used

The Sharia-compliant 'Real Estate Investment Trusts' have the potential to become a viable alternative investment for operators of Islamic finance eying investments in real estate. A necessary condition, however, is that the following issues are effectively resolved: a regulatory framework universally accepted; a sharia consensus on classes of assets, the possibility of cross border trading and a favorable tax legislation that also addresses the problem of double taxation

It is the natural environment in which to apply the contractual agreements advocated by Islamic finance along with the system of values based on equity, social solidarity and risk-sharing . It is also the framework within which the issues peculiar to the social and Islamic economic thought almost overlap

It is the Islamic concept of insurance. It has been practiced in various forms for over 1400 years and observes the rules and regulations of Islamic law. The word originates from the Arabic kafalah, which means ‘guaranteeing each other’. The takaful system is based on mutual co-operation, responsibility, assurance, protection and assistance between groups of participants. It is, in other words, a form of mutual insurance

There is a clear overlapping between the principles and goals of Islamic finance and the policies implemented by the Kyoto protocol. There is now a rising awareness among Islamic governments, investors and industry leaders of the necessity to address the issue of sustainable development and in particolar to curb carbon emissions