In a conference room in Seoul, more than 200 members of Korea's financial community came together to hear about the possibilities of sukuk, or Islamic bonds, from Bursa Malaysia and the Korea Exchange KRX.
The information session was aimed at promoting awareness of Islamic financial markets in Korea where there is reportedly a high level of interest among corporates and in the government for sukuk issuance. Under the current regulatory regime, Islamic products cannot be issued in Korea, but the Korean Financial Supervisory Commission is expected to make the necessary amendments to the country's tax code and capital markets act to allow Islamic issuance by the end of this year.
We are confident...