Sukuk

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Sukuk (صكوك, DMG Ṣukūk , plural ofصك / Ṣakk ) is a bond in Islamic finance and banking in which no interest is paid on the capital invested .

General

Islamic financial instruments must be in accordance with the religious rules of Islam , the legal sources of Fiqh and Sunna, and Sharia . Therefore, the Sukuk gives the bondholders an ownership interest in the assets of the debtor's bond and is therefore as asset-backed security ( English asset securitization ) to qualify. Because of the interest ban, there is no bond interest, but a share of the income from the financed assets (such as rent ). Rental income can be linked to reference interest rates such as LIBOR . Sukuk is therefore also subject to an interest rate risk . The Sukuk was approved in February 1988 by the "Fiqh Academy" of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and is therefore a relatively young financial instrument.

Observance of the interest prohibition

According to popular interpretation, Islamic law, the Sharia , prohibits the collection and payment of interest . According to the Koran (Sura 2/275), Muslims are neither allowed to demand nor to pay interest ( Riba ). Accordingly, a Muslim cannot take advantage of interest-bearing loans and mortgages , and interest on bank balances is also not permitted. Islamic banks can therefore not issue interest-bearing loans.

However, the Sharia allows the distribution of profits . For example, Islamic banks buy goods for the issuer and later pass them on to him at a profit. The issuer does not receive a fixed interest rate , but becomes a partner in the bank through its credit balance . The bank itself acts as an intermediary and thus complies with Islamic law.

species

The Sukuk can be combined with other Islamic financing instruments so that they are securitized . There are 14 types of Sukuk, of which we should particularly mention:

Sukuk al-murabaha

Murabaha is a purchase and repurchase agreement in which a customer wants to purchase something (such as commodities ) from the Islamic bank. At the beginning of the purchase, a buyback price is set between the bank and the customer. The increase in value and risk surcharge are included in this price. The Islamic bank acts as a middleman of the commodities.

Sukuk al-ijara

Ijara is a lease or hire purchase agreement . The bank is the owner of an asset and therefore bears all risks associated with ownership . The bank rents the asset to the customer for use and for use at a certain lease rate and for a certain period of time. In the case of a hire-purchase agreement, the difference is that the customer can offset the ongoing lease payments as a payment for the asset according to a previously determined value and a specified useful life .

Sukuk al-Muscharaka

Muscharaka is a profit and loss contract. After the capital contributions have been made, the Islamic bank and the customer jointly acquire ownership. A project is therefore financed jointly.

Sukuk al-mudaraba

Mudaraba is a type of profit distribution in silent partnerships . One party raises the capital for the property, the other takes on the work and management. The bank is again the provider of capital.

Example in Germany

The Sukuk first gained notoriety in Germany when, in August 2004 , Saxony-Anhalt became the first European issuer to issue a covered bond (in the form of the Sukuk-al-idschara ) for 100 million euros. In this bond structure, the rights of use to the real estate assets of the state of Saxony-Anhalt were brought into a Dutch foundation acting as a special purpose vehicle . ( Stichting Sachsen-Anhalt Trust ). Saxony-Anhalt received a one-off payment from the foundation, which leased the assets back to Saxony-Anhalt in return for annual rental payments, which corresponds to the interest payments on a normal bond. All claims of the Dutch foundation against Saxony-Anhalt were unsecured and unconditional liabilities of the state . After a 5-year term, the Sukuk was repaid on July 31, 2009. At the end of the term, Saxony-Anhalt reacquired the rights of use by repaying the sum from 2004. This payment was forwarded to the Islamic investor . Through structured finance so that a fixed-rate bond was formed in fact, as such, by the special purpose on the principle of substance over form could be accounted for and the structure of a leaseback corresponded.

Market opportunities in Europe

The interest ban also affects Muslims in Europe , provided they want to strictly adhere to the commandments of Islam. Although they are allowed in Western countries to conclude banking products with interest, doing so would violate Islamic law . The alternative would be to store your money in interest-free accounts or to transfer it to their countries. Germany and other European countries have recognized the problem. Muslims are still undersupplied with Sharia-compliant products, but the supply of sukuks is steadily increasing. On the one hand, the demand of Muslims in Western countries would be met and, on the other hand, the banks' market opportunities would increase.

Several “Islamic banks” are active in Europe (especially in Great Britain). In 2010 the “Kuveyt Türk Beteiligungsbank” opened in Mannheim; Initially, it did not have a full banking license and could therefore only broker business (e.g. by referring customers to its Turkish parent company , which is majority owned by Kuwait Finance House, one of the largest companies in the Kuwait Emirates ). In March 2015, BaFin granted Kuveyt Türk Bank as the first Sharia-compliant financial institution in Germany to have a full banking license.

Web links

 Wikinews: Bank without interest: First Islam bank comes to Germany  - news

literature

  • Ibrahim Cihan: Capital market products under Islamic law. Grin Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-638-84572-4 .
  • Zamir Iqbal, Abbas Mirakhor: An Introduction to Islamic Finance: Theory and Practice. John Wiley, New York 2006, ISBN 978-0-470-82188-6 .
  • Michael Mahlknecht: Islamic Finance: Introduction to Theory and Practice. Wiley-VCH-Verlag, Weinheim 2009, ISBN 978-3-527-50389-6 .
  • Osman Sacarcelik: Legal Issues of Islamic Certificates (Sukuk). Nomos Verlag, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-8487-0492-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andreas Jobst, The Economics of Islamic Finance and Securitization , IMF Working Paper, August 2007, p. 19
  2. ↑ Michael Mahlknecht, Islamic Finance , 2008, p. 177 ff.
  3. ↑ Murabaha. (No longer available online.) In: FinanzLexikon.net. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 13, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.finanz-lexikon.net
  4. ↑ Ijara. (No longer available online.) In: FinanzLexikon.net. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 13, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.finanz-lexikon.net
  5. ↑ Musharaka. (No longer available online.) In: FinanzLexikon.net. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015 ; Retrieved November 13, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.finanz-lexikon.net
  6. ↑ Mudaraba. (No longer available online.) In: FinanzLexikon.net. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 13, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.finanz-lexikon.net
  7. ^ Sukuk Database
  8. ↑ Christoph Pauly, Profits in God's Name , in: Der Spiegel No. 43 of October 19, 2009.
  9. ↑ Sascha Mattke: Islambanking: Allah would not mind. Mannheim has the first bank branch for devout Muslims. Can the Islamic financial model be a role model for the West? In: The time . No. 26 , June 24, 2010, p. 34 ( zeit.de [accessed on November 13, 2011]).
  10. ↑ Bafin: First Islamic bank receives license in Germany. In: The time. online, March 22, 2015.