INDONESIA - FINANCE - Shariah ETF Mutual funds need to be published

www.bisnis.com - JAKARTA: The company challenged the asset management mutual fund products issued Exchange Trade Fund (ETF) based on operational after the stock market authorities to unite in a group of Jakarta-based Islamic Shariah Index (JSI) and Indonesia Sharia Stock Index (ISSI).
Deputy Secretary Daily Board of the National Sharia Council (DSN) Kanny Hidaya said the market opportunity based Islamic capital market, especially mutual funds in Indonesia is large enough to see the population of this country with the largest Muslim population.
"After some time the stock ETF is launched, it should present an asset management company dared to publish Islamic ETF products," he said in a discussion session on Market Development of Islamic Indonesia, today (Thursday, April 5, 2012).  (source)

MALAYSIA - TAX - Tax incentives for Sukuk in Malaysia

cpifinancial.net  - Malaysia’s 2012 Budget is to offer incentives boost Islamic finance, extending tax breaks on Sukuk issuance for a further three-year period

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said a tax deduction on expenses incurred for Sukuk Wakala will be given for a three-year period from 2012 to encourage more Sukuk issuances. Najib said, "The income tax exemption given for non-ringgit Sukuk issuance and transaction is extended for another three years until the year of assessment 2014." (source)

INDONESIA - OPINION - Islamic Exchange Traded Fund (Islamic ETF): new instrument on the Islamic capital market

The development of Islamic capital markets in domestic and global markets continued to show positive trends. This is caused by various factors that support these developments. The first factor is the issue of Islamic development which continues to progress very rapidly, so it must be balanced with capital market products in accordance with sharia to respond to market demand. The second factor is the Muslim investors who keep their funds in the stock market, but expect the product must be in accordance with sharia. It becomes something very positive because their awareness of Sharia compliant products require them to invest in shares in accordance with sharia. The third factor is the factor of competitive advantage compared with conventional products.(source)

FINANCIAL MARKETS - Muslim Nations Plan Stock Index Next Year to Spur Trade: Islamic Finance - Turkey to coordinate

Huseyin Erkan, chairman and chief executive officer of Istanbul Stock Exchange. 

Photographer: Jamie Rector/Bloomberg

BANKING - CAPITAL MARKETS - CIMB-Principal eyes regional opportunities (Indonesia included)

The Asset October 2010 by Chito Santiago

Campbell Tupling: We see a lot of upside for ETFs

For John Campbell Tupling, CEO of CIMB-Principal Asset Manage­ment Berhad, 2010 is still a bit of a recovery year for the asset management industry in Malaysia. While the market had rebounded somewhat in 2009 and had some major pick-up early this year, it went through a correction in May and June. Retail investors are still wary, although the institutional investors are starting to invest, which is a good sign, he says.

“There had been a number of funds launched at the retail level, but their average size was only 41 million ringgit (US$13.23 million), which was an indication that there still isn’t enough positive market sentiment out there to warrant the launching of more new funds,” he notes.

CAPITAL MARKETS - Islamic ETFs: Here to Stay?

The concept is simple: Market makers bunch together “clean” stocks, and market players buy those stocks up for trade. For those who enjoy the thrill of buying and selling stocks, Islamic exchange traded funds (ETFs) are the filtered alternative. An ETF is basically a fund which behaves like equity. The difference between mutual funds and an ETF is that it is readily available on the secondary market and stock quotes are available throughout the day, as opposed to mutual funds whose net asset value (NAV) is calculated at the end of the day.