Shari’a Index to strengthen Dubai as capital of Islamic economy

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Monday launched “the Dubai Financial Market Shari’a Index (DFMSI), the most recent initiative from DFM aiming to reinforce its momentous journey as the first Shari’a-compliant exchange globally since 2007. The DFM has been actively contributing in the joint efforts to fortify Dubai’s leading position as capital of Islamic economy globally.

The first index of its kind in the UAE takes DFM’s efforts to attract more Islamic investments a step forward by providing market participants with a benchmark to measure the performance of Shari’a-compliant listed securities and to take their investment decisions accordingly.

The Index is accessible through DFM’s website, mobile phone applications as well as any other data dissemination platforms run by the DFM or by licensed market data providers. The initial market capitalization of the Shari’a Index has been set as per stock prices on December 31, 2009 with 1000 points as the base point of the Index.

Shares included in the DFM Shari’a Index are designated in line with the quarterly updated list of Shari’a-compliant companies prepared by the DFM Fatwa and Shari’a Supervisory Board, which revises the list based on the quarterly financial results of listed companies.

The Fatwa and Shari’a Supervisory Board implements the revision in line with DFM’s Standard for Issuing, Acquiring and Trading of Shares issued in 2008 and its amendments issued in 2018.

Currently, the DFM Shari’a Index consists of 40 listed companies including 30 UAE companies and 10 dually-listed companies and the weightage of any company is capped at 10%.

Essa Kazim, Chairman of DFM said, “As the first Shari’a-compliant exchange globally since 2007, we are pleased to launch this new initiative that underlines DFM’s active role in the joint efforts to fortify Dubai’s leading position as capital of Islamic economy globally in line with the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. The Index enables Shari’a-complaint investors and international institutions a trajectory of the historical and current performance of DFM’s Shari’a-complaint shares compared to other Islamic or conventional indices at the local, regional and international levels.”

“We believe that the DFM Shari’a Index is a strong push to our efforts to further attract Islamic investments, considering the growing demand from investors across the world for ethical investments that focus on companies adhering to the Islamic Sharia’ or to any other general values related to sustainability and environment protection,” H.E. Essa Kazim added.

According to the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2018/2019, the Islamic Economy is poised to significantly grow during the coming years. The report estimates that global Muslim spending reached $2.1 trillion in 2017, while total assets of the Islamic finance sector reached $2.4 trillion.

Key rules of the DFM Shari’a Index include: reference base of the Index has been at 1000 points; index provides the historical data as of 31/12/2009 as its Base date; maximum index constituent weight is capped at 10 per cent; all Shari’a-compliant ordinary shares listed on DFM and approved by DFM Fatwa and Shari’a Supervisory Board are eligible for inclusion in the Index; DFMSI is adjusted as per the free float shares excluding government ownerships and major shareholdings of 5 per cent and above; index is calculated based on the last trade prices of stocks; inclusion of new listings within the Index to be considered after one month of the first trading date.

It may be mentioned that Dubai Financial Market: Dubai Financial Market was established as a public institution with its own independent corporate body. DFM operates as a secondary market for the trading of securities issued by public shareholding companies, bonds issued by the Federal Government or any of the local Governments and public institutions in the country, units of investment funds and any other financial instruments, local or foreign, which are accepted by the market. The DFM commenced operations on March 26, 2000 and became the first Islamic Shari’a-compliant exchange globally since 2007. Following its initial public offering in November 2006, when DFM offered 1.6 billion shares, representing 20 per cent of its paid-up capital of Dhs8 billion, DFM became a public joint stock company and its shares were listed on March 7, 2007 with the trading symbol (DFM).. Following the IPO, the Government of Dubai retained the remaining 80 per cent of DFM Company through Borse Dubai Limited.

Dubai Financial Market is committed to provide quality, innovative, compliant and sustainable services to all stakeholders that exceed their expectations, through our commitment to ensure and control ISO 9001:2015 implementation and continuous improvements across all systems, including our Quality Management System, in order to achieve DFM’s vision as ‘The World Class Regional Marketplace.