Support for Hong Kong Islamic financial market

More measures to encourgae the development of the Hong Kong’s Islamic financial market, particularly the sukuk and the Islamic fund management industry were discussed during the first meeting of the Joint Finance Forum which was held in the special administrative region.

The forum was held yesterday following an agreement between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Bank Negara in August to strengthen collaboration between Hong Kong and Malaysia in the area of Islamic finance.

The forum participants agreed to identify potential sukuk issuers and encourage cross-border sukuk issuances between Hong Kong and Malaysia.

In particular, corporations located in the region could be one of the key sources of potential sukuk issuers.

“Hong Kong market players supported that sukuk should be offered as one of the possible options or solutions to their clients who have funding needs, as sukuk can be a means for potential issuers to expand their investor base.

“Participants also welcomed the initiative of the Hong Kong government to consider issuing sukuk, which will showcase Hong Kong’s Islamic financial platform to local and international issuers and investors,” said HKMA and Bank Negara in a joint statement.

The participants also agreed to consider launching Islamic funds and make use of the established mutual recognition framework for Islamic funds between Hong Kong and Malaysia to facilitate cross-border Islamic financial activities.

This will encourage a wider range of syariah-compliant fund offerings in Hong Kong and Malaysia.

The meeting also agreed to enhance the strategic financial linkages between Hong Kong and Malaysia aimed at facilitating cross-border investment flows and creating greater opportunities for investors from the region and other parts of the world, the statement said.

HKMA and BNM acted as facilitators, while the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd also participated in the meeting.