New taxes on Sukuk investments and other regulatory proposals took centerstage last week while more offerings made their way into the Shariah investments domain.
In its latest annual national budget, Pakistan proposed taxes on Sukuk investments at a 10% rate on retail investors, including associations, for returns below PKR1 million (US$3,581) – rising to 12.5% above this threshold. For companies and other corporate entities, a flat 25% tax rate applies.
Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority launched its 2024-2028 Indonesian Pension Fund Development roadmap to bolster this domestic sector’s ecosystem for investments, including the Shariah focus, and accelerate its digital transformation.
Aiming to boost the local Sukuk industry, Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) proposed regulatory changes for debt instruments by Saudi development funds, banks and sovereign funds to be part of exempted issuances in relation to both private and public offers.
On the issuance front, Dubai-based real estate asset management firm GFH Partners launched its seventh logistics and investment fund in the US, with a transaction value of US$300 million. The fund includes 25 industrial assets.
Saudi Arabia’s CMA approved the public offering of GIB Opportunistic Indian Equity Fund
Azimut Egypt got the Financial Regulatory Authority approval to launch ‘azinvest’ – which it described as the first full-digital investment funds and portfolios platform, mobile and web application, in Egypt.
In Pakistan, the AWT Islamic Income Fund’s size reached PKR25 billion (US$89.51 million) as of the 30th June 2024 and funds under management at Indonesia’s BSI Prioritas passed IDR70 trillion (US$4.33 billion) in Q2 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 15.3%.
Saudi Arabia’s Al Nahdi Family Office is among investors who have provided US$100 million in new capital for private equity initiatives across the Middle East and India by Gulf Islamic Investments.
