The Monetary Authority of Singapore looks to enhance its Islamic finance industry (By IFN)

The Monetary Authority of Singapore looks to enhance its Islamic finance industry

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SINGAPORE: Deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Lim Hng Kiang, said that MAS is currently working with other government agencies as well as the industry on measures to heighten Islamic finance activities in the country. Their efforts include a review of the regulatory and tax treatment to expedite the issuance of Islamic financial instruments. This comes after the government’s decision earlier in the year to allow the tax window on specific Islamic finance instruments to lapse; causing slight confusion in the market on the government’s stand on Islamic finance and its desire to grow the sector. Another area of focus for Singapore, outside of the debt capital markets and raising money in a Shariah compliant manner, experts have offered, is the creation of a sound Islamic finance asset management industry. This is due to the republic’s robust regulatory framework and its position as the destination of choice for investors and fund managers alike. Speaking to Islamic Finance news, a Dubai-based industry player said: “I honestly think that there has been lack of development in the Islamic asset management industry in Singapore; a sector which should have been its main area of focus for growth and promotion of Islamic finance.” Toby O’Connor, CEO of Singapore’s only fully-fledged Islamic bank, the Islamic Bank of Asia also said that cross-border links need to be strengthened in order to increase the total assets of the industry, as illustrated in Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.