The International Islamic Finance Market (IIFM) and the World Gold Council (WGC) held a meeting in Istanbul on March 28, 2018 regarding gold documentation and product standardization. The meeting which was held when the Stock Exchange was hosted was organized by Islamic Finance Directorate.

At the meeting, an assessment was made on documentation and products based on the underlying market transactions. It provided information on standardized product documentation for key stakeholders, such as regulators, financial institutions, law firms, stock exchanges, industrial enterprises and Islamic scholars, as well as key stakeholders targeted by negotiations. At the meeting, products such as the use of gold agreements, gold pledge agreements, ETFs and Gold Sukutsu were also discussed.

Borsa Istanbul Assistant General Manager Şenol Duman said that the importance of Stock Markets and the Stock Exchange Istanbul have an important place in terms of the development of Islamic Finance. “We are delighted to host such an important meeting as Stock Exchange Istanbul. The development of the Islamic finance sector has an important place in terms of Precious Metals Market and Capital Markets as far as we are concerned. We therefore hope that this meeting will be beneficial to all participants and that it will result in a productive outcome. ”

Ijlal Ahmed Alvi, Managing Director of the International Islamic Finance Market, who is leading the session, said: “This meeting is the first and foremost step to improve the standard documentation and product approval for Islamic law, our common goal. However, this meeting will be beneficial to institutions active in the field of Islamic Finance and to other institutions wishing to expand their services on this field. We would like to express our gratitude to the Borsa Istanbul, which hosted such an important meeting, and to all other participants for their contribution and direction. The outcome of the meeting will allow the International Islamic Finance Market and the World Gold Council to assess and prioritize the standardization of gold-based documentation and products in the future. ”

The World Gold Council and the International Islamic Finance Market are working closely together to develop and contribute to the issue of standardized product and process documentation as being gold products in compliance with Islamic law. Some of these products are as follows:

• Physical Gold investment accounts,
• Physical Gold accumulation plan,
• Physical Gold certificates,
• Physical Gold ETFs and
• Physical Gold commitments.

The passing of the standardized documentation process will provide a wider range of accumulation, risk protection and product diversification and will expand the customer portfolio of Islamic banks and other financial institutions.