Nine nominated as members for Shariah council
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has recently nominated nine members for the Shariah council that has been formed to tap more Islamic investors in the country's stock market.
As per the rules, five out of the nine nominated are Shariah scholars, namely Professor Dr Mohammad Abdur Rashid, Mufti Shahed Rahmani, Mufti Yousuf Sultan, Mufti Dr Waliur Rahman Khan, representative of Islamic Foundation, Bangladesh, and Mawlana Shah Wali Ullah.
And the other four are industry experts: Professor Abu Taleb, finance and banking expert; AKM Nurul Fazal Bulbul, legal expert; Professor Md Nazim Uddin Bhuiyan, accounting expert; and Mezbah Uddin Ahmed, capital market expert.
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According to the rules, the BSEC has also decided to make Shariah scholar Professor Dr Mohammad Abdur Rashid the council's chairman. He is a professor at the Department of Islamic Studies at Dhaka University.
The commission has already sent letters to the selected members and will proceed after getting their consent.
In the last five years, new Shariah-based securities such as Mudraba perpetual bonds, Sukuk bonds, and Shariah-compliant mutual funds have been issued in the stock market.
But since there was no Shariah council, any dispute arising in the management of these securities could not be resolved.
BSEC Spokesperson and Executive Director Rezaul Karim told The Business Standard that the Shariah council will play an important role in forming an Islamic capital market.
If there is any non-compliance of Shariah principles by the issuer of the securities, the council shall inform the BSEC in writing to take action against the issuer.
Under the Shariah law, Muslims are not allowed to invest in shares of companies that are involved in conventional financial services, gambling, pornography, advertising, and alcohol and tobacco business which violates Shariah principles.
The Islamic religious law also bars Muslims from investing in the media and entertainment companies and trading gold and silver as cash on a deferred basis.
According to the BSEC, there are a large number of Shariah-compliant investors in the country. Investors from other Muslim countries also prefer Shariah-compliant securities.
