Twitter IPO deemed Shariah compliant - IFN

Twitter IPO deemed Shariah compliant

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GLOBAL: The Twitter IPO has generated much interest, not least from those buyers concerned with ensuring their investments are Shariah compliant. Such was the interest in the weeks leading up to the offering on the NYSE that IdealRatings conducted a Shariah screening which concluded that Twitter stock was considered Shariah compliant and eligible for investment as per AAOIFI guidelines. The IPO was deemed a success in comparison with that of Facebook last year, with Twitter selling 70 million shares at starting at US$26 each on Thursday morning, jumping 73% to close at US$44.90, raising US$1.82 billion. While it’s not possible to assess how many of those shares were bought by Islamic investors encouraged by the news that the stock was indeed considered Shariah compliant, it drives home the point that there are gains to be made on both sides of the equation, and builds a case for obtaining more information about the potential successes in non-traditional investment targets. Technology is an area that is key in Islamic finance in terms of operations and is also an area that is wide open for development and investment. The potential for crossover with conventional, non-specifically Islamic products is an option that widens the field considerably. However the concern is that there is no global standard for the rules that they must meet in order to be considered suitable, which is where the standards set by AAOIFI and IFSB come into play even though these are neither universally recognized nor yet enforced by law.