Under the patronage of the Scottish Government and supported by the UK Government, the 2nd edition of GEFF will delve in-depth into two insightful case studies that focus on the growth of responsible investment in emerging and developed markets.
Edinburgh, Scotland – 03 August 2017: Middle East Global Advisors, a leading financial intelligence platform spearheading the agenda of sustainable and inclusive finance, will convene the second edition of the much-coveted Global Ethical Finance Forum (GEFF) in Edinburgh, Scotland. Based on a strategic partnership with Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC), the Forum will be held under the patronage of the Scottish Government, supported by the UK Government and will be hosted by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), building upon the legacy of the inaugural Forum held in September 2015.
The theme for GEFF 2017 – “Ethical Finance: Merging Profit & Purpose”, is in line with the Forum’s aspiration to serve as a platform of convergence and collaboration across the responsible finance universe, and to forge a vision for a more inclusive and sustainable financial system.
Fueled by growing investor concerns pertaining to climate change, the market for sustainable investing has witnessed a steady growth over the years. According to the Global Sustainable Investment Review (GSIA) 2016, sustainable investment now stands at 26% of all professionally managed assets globally, highlighting the significant potential this industry fosters. Prominent sustainable investing strategies include exclusionary screening, ESG Integration and Corporate Engagement/Shareholder Action.
As per the GSIA 2016, Japan showcased the fastest growth in the sustainable investing market during 2014-2016, with the aggregate sustainable investment market in Japan quantified at USD 473.6 billion, up from USD 7.0 billion in 2014. A significant contributor to this was the new information provided by the Japan Sustainable Investment Forum (JSIF) on sustainable investing strategies of large institutional asset owners. Surveys by JSIF revealed corporate engagement and shareholder action to be the most dominant strategy at $289.6 billion, applying to 61 percent of SRI assets.
In February 2014, Japan introduced its very first Stewardship Code. Whilst the principles are voluntary, 201 institutional investors had adopted them as of December 2015. This was then followed by the Corporate Governance Code in June 2015. Both the codes were introduced with a vision to promote and foster engagement between investors and companies, and to open up dialogue in order to encourage companies to improve their return on equity (ROE) and to place greater emphasis on it as a key indicator of profitability and corporate governance.
Interestingly, the world’s largest pension fund, the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), became a PRI signatory in September 2015 and also established a Stewardship & ESG division, in order to integrate environment, social and governance issues into its investment process effectively.
The changes in Japan’s investment industry can be attributed to a shrinking domestic market Japanese companies are seeing due to the negative demographic trends of a growing aging population which are likely to continue for years to come.
The GSIA 2016, also pointed out that during the period 2014-2016, Malaysia with 30% share in Asia (excluding Japan) is the largest SRI market in the region, as it recognizes Shariah-compliant funds as part of the SRI universe. In 2014, the Securities Commission of Malaysia introduced an SRI framework addressing the dearth of regulations and standards within the Malaysian market, and one that envisioned to serve as a benchmark for developing comprehensive standardized products that appeal to both Islamic finance and SRI markets. It also paved the way for crossovers between the various segments of the responsible finance universe – SRI, ESG and Islamic finance.
In 2006, Bursa Malaysia introduced its Corporate Responsibility framework, followed by Shariah based indices and corporate governance guidelines for listed companies in 2007. This was followed by the launch of the FTSE4Good ASEAN Index in April 2016. The index measure performance of publicly listed companies demonstrating strong ESG performance. These developments signify how Malaysia is focused on mainstreaming ESG integration.
In light of the above developments, GEFF 2017 will spearhead two exclusive case studies focusing on tracking the growth of responsible investment in emerging and developed markets. The sessions aim to analyze the cases of Japan and Malaysia, understand what lessons can be gleaned from them and whether their success can be replicated in other emerging and developed markets.
Across two power-packed days, GEFF 2017 will spearhead a series of sessions focusing on the massive opportunity that lies in mainstreaming ethical finance, one that requires concerted efforts to build meaningful dialogue across its three segments: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and Islamic/faith-based finance. The forum aims to drive thought leadership across a wide range of topics including green bonds, financial inclusion, ethical banking, amongst others, with the vision of bringing ethics to the forefront of business.
The forum will take place on 13th and 14th of September at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)’s prestigious Conference Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland.
KUALA LUMPUR (June 20): Bursa Malaysia Bhd has added Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd to the bourse operator and regulator’s Islamic participating organisations list to further grow the Islamic capital market.
JEDDAH — THE Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group signed three a Memorandum of Understanding in quick succession to strengthen collaboration.
Islamic banks, referred to as ‘participation banks’ in Morocco, are likely to provide a modest stimulus to deposit growth in the country, Fitch Ratings says. Morocco’s central bank granted its first licences to Islamic banks last week.
Bishop David Oginde’s opinion piece “Why expansion of Sharia laws remains perturbing” published in the Sunday Standard last weekend gave the impression that some proposed reforms in the Finance Bill 2017 portend danger simply because they touch on Islamic financial products. Bishop Oginde was clever in his approach but his message was loud and clear; Reforms to help promote Islamic financial products in this country should be viewed as a grand scheme of Islamisation, subtly disguised in a policy cassock. Here is why his arguments do not hold water: First, the good Bishop’s opposition to the institutionalisation of these reforms seems to be on the basis that they are discriminatory and would marginalise non-Muslims. Bishop Oginde notes, “The concern therefore is that such a move may result in a situation where the Muslim community enjoys preferential exempt status by government in the raising of taxes to fund national obligations, while non-Muslims continue to shoulder the burden.” This is laughable! How can such a statement be true when these products are available to every individual, irrespective of their religious leanings and will be traded by the Barclays, CBAs and KCBs of this world? This is not religious zamzam water being availed in mosques only. These are financial products available in the market for all Kenyans. How is it then that the non-Muslims will be subsidising the Muslims? Gai! Second, who says non-interest based financial transactions are based purely on Islam? It is not Islam only that prohibits interest and usury. Christianity and Judaism also condemn it. The Bible condemns interest and usury and one would expect a bishop like Oginde to know this. In fact after the recent global financial crisis, Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Newspaper published an article extolling the merits and successes of Islamic banking and voiced its approval of Islamic finance. It asked banks to look at the rules of Islamic finance to restore confidence amongst their clients at a time of global economic crisis. “The ethical principles on which Islamic finance is based may bring banks closer to their clients and to the true spirit which should mark every financial service” it wrote. May be Bishop Oginde is more Christian than the Pope himself. Furthermore, would not a Christian bishop having issues with an ethical based financial arrangement not give the impression, albeit a subtle one, that the conventional interest-based financial institutions that many Kenyans detest today, are indeed Christian? Why would a bishop, of all people, have a problem with any system meant to ensure people are not exploited and taken advantage of, just because it is the brainchild of another faith? If Kenyan Christians want to establish banks or products that go with their ‘no usury’ Christian principle, why wouldn’t that be welcomed by even say the Muslims? Bwana Bishop, we Muslims have absolutely no problem with Saturdays and Sundays being rest days, not to mention the many other Judeo-Christian based laws of our constitution. Finally, Bishop Oginde thinks Kenya’s plan to join the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) is a well calculated move to Islamised the country. What he ignores is that many other countries, like Ghana and even our neighbour Uganda, with negligible Muslim population, are already in it. Kenya, like these other countries, wants to join IOC for financial not religious reasons. It wants to access loans from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Such loans will benefit all its citizens. People like Oginde would probably opine that Kenya does not need the IDB since it is ‘Islamic’. They would rather we take loans from the IMF and the World Bank because these institutions in their misconstrued judgments are ‘Christian’? Countries such as the UK, China, Japan, US and South Africa, which have minority Muslim populations, have amended their legislation to accommodate these products. Even the World Bank recognises Islamic finance as an effective tool for financing development worldwide, including in non-Muslim countries. It is an industry with $1.5 trillion in assets and Kenya cannot ignore it. Kenya needs an integrated financial system with deep and efficient financial markets capable of improving financial inclusion and wooing international investors from all corners of the world. Before the introduction of Islamic banks and Islamic windows in the conventional banks, we had a deliberately unbanked citizens who did so in order to maintain their religious sanctity. The proposed reforms in the Finance Bill 2017 are meant to attract this group. They are also geared towards attracting investments from the Islamic axis of the liquidity rich Middle East, South Asia and North Africa, open up investment opportunities in our financial institutions and ultimately create jobs for Kenyans of all faith. These are the reasons behind the amendments being made to the several finance related laws in the Finance Bill 2017. Bishop Oginde should see these issues in terms of their substance and not in their identity.
CONVENTIONAL banks aside, there is a push by industry players for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to take place in the crowded Islamic banking as well as the non-bank lender space.
BRUNEI Darussalam has been ranked 12th in the latest Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI), prepared by the answer company of Thomson Reuters.
Rabat – Participatory banks can “modestly stimulate the growth of deposits in the country,” says Fitch Ratings in a new analysis on the sector.
Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, recently honoured 10 employees who earned professional certificates in Islamic finance from the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF).
Dubai: Islamic banking in Oman is growing at a faster rate than conventional banking segment, with Islamic banking assets up more than 62 per cent year on year, according to a recent report issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).