BURSA SUQ AL-SILA’ SEES FIRST CROSS-BORDER TRANSACTION

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Exchange Tuesday achieved a
milestone with the first international transaction conducted on Bursa Suq
Al-Sila’, the world’s first end-to-end Shari’ah-compliant commodity trading
platform within one month of its launch.

This money-market Murabahah transaction was conducted by Gatehouse Bank plc
of UK with CIMB Islamic Bank Tuesday, said Malaysia Exchange in a statement.

The trade was witnessed by Gatehouse Bank Chief Executive Officer Richard
Thomas, Bursa Malaysia’s Global Head of Islamic Markets Raja Teh Maimunah and
CIMB Islamic Bank CEO Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, it said.

The fully-electronic platform is an international commodity platform that is
able to facilitate commodity-based Islamic financing and investment transactions
under the Shari’ah principles of Murabahah, Tawarruq and Musawwamah.

Malaysia Exchange Bhd Chief Executive Officer Yusli Mohamed Yusoff
said: “ This new development strengthens Bursa Suq Al-Sila’s global appeal to
facilitate Shari’ah financing by undertaking multi-currency transactions."

" We believe this first international trade will lead to more cross-border
Islamic transactions by foreign financial players as this development affirms
the viability of Bursa Malaysia’s fully Shari’ah commodity platform in
facilitating financing beyond borders,” he said.

In a separate statement, Gatehouse said the trade was successfully executed
at its London office at 10.15am Tuesday.


The transaction and revised platform signals the opening of a new product
line for Gatehouse Bank, not previously targeted by Islamic institutions,
offering the innovative and unique features in a package that can be used by
other Islamic financial services companies around the world, said Gatehouse.

Thomas said: “ It is an honour to be one of the parties in the first
international trade over Malaysia Exchange’s platform."

" With CIMB Islamic, not only have we made the first cross-border
Islamic finance transaction with Malaysia Exchange, but we have also set a
precedent for a process whereby transactions can be enacted far more quickly and
more efficiently than ever before," he said.

He said Gatehouse hopes and expects that many other Shari’ah-compliant banks
will follow suit and it intends to do everything it can to help them do so.

The innovative and unique features of this process will speed up the time
that deals can be made for all banks and institutions using this platform,
paving the way forward for the future growth of Islamic finance right across the
globe, he said.

" Gatehouse Bank was established to lead the way in Shari’ah-compliant
transactions from the Western market; this trade demonstrates that we are making
real progress towards our goal of market leadership," he added.

-- BERNAMA