HE the QCB Governor, Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud al-Thani, in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and Chairman of the Governing Board of International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), will give a keynote address at the forthcoming London Sukuk Summit on the standards issued by the IFSB to facilitate the regulation and supervision of the Islamic Financial Services industry.
The event will be held at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel, London on June 12 and 13.
He will also address the role that sukuk can play in facilitating the liquidity management for institutions that offer Islamic financial services. In providing this perspective, Sheikh Abdullah will draw on his capacity as Governor of the Qatar Central Bank and Chairman of Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).
Sheikh Abdullah recently stated that Islamic banks in Qatar had issued sukuk worth QR8bn by the end of the first quarter of 2013. QCB, he said, has issued sukuk worth QR39bn to help manage the liquidity of Islamic financial institutions to comply with Basel III norms. He also said sukuk issuances are likely to grow by 20% annually driven by high demand for Shariah compliant products and finances globally.
The total volume of investments of banks operating in Qatar in sukuks or Islamic bonds had reached QR47bn for the same period.
He further said sukuk and other Shariah compliant products are becoming increasingly popular amongst investors, particularly in Arab and Islamic countries.
Despite the international financial crisis, 2009 witnessed the issuance of $23bn worth of sukuk compared to $14bn in 2008 and with that the volume of international sukuk market increased from $111bn (in 2009) to $131bn in 2012.
