HK, Malaysia hold joint conference on Islamic finance

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) jointly held in Hong Kong Monday the HKMA-BNM Joint Conference on Islamic finance.

The meeting aimed to raise the level of interest and appreciation on sukuk as a viable financing and investment instrument amongst the business and financial community from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

The half-day conference saw regulators and market leaders in the Islamic finance field from Hong Kong and Malaysia discuss and deliberate on a wide range of issues related to sukuk, from the latest trends in the global sukuk market to the business opportunities for Islamic finance in Hong Kong, the practical issues in structuring sukuk and its investment appetite.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA Peter Pang said, "With the tax framework for sukuk in place, Hong Kong's financial platform is ready for sukuk issuance. We highly welcome local and overseas entities to make use of Hong Kong's platform to issue sukuk."

"We very much appreciate the close partnership we have established with Malaysia in developing Islamic finance and look forward to more co-operation opportunities in the future."

Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia Muhammad Ibrahim said, "This inaugural conference is set to mark a significant step to enhance collaboration and deepen financial linkages in Islamic finance between Malaysia and Hong Kong."

"We look forward to sharing our Islamic finance marketplace with Hong Kong in terms of expertise in structuring, managing and distribution of sukuk as well as providing advice on legal and Shariah matters."

Muhammad emphasized the importance of adopting international standards and best practices by new markets, with a proper governance framework to facilitate execution of Islamic finance transactions and instill investors' confidence in the industry.

Potential areas of collaboration will also include dual listing of sukuk, leveraging on Malaysia's Shariah governance framework and arbitration platform, and developing human capital in Islamic finance, according to Muhammad.

The conference was attended by around 200 representatives from policymakers, regulatory authorities, corporations, financial institutions, fund management firms, law firms and other stakeholders from Hong Kong, Malaysia and other economies.

This event followed the first meeting, held in December 2013, of the private sector-led Joint Forum on Islamic Finance between Hong Kong and Malaysia, the next meeting of which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in the second half of this year.