Morocco: New Stock Market Index to Measure the Performance of Islamic Financial Institutions

By Loubna Flah

Morocco World News

Casablanca, July 11, 2012

According to the daily newspaper “Al Massae,” Moroccan Islamic financial institutions will soon be closely monitored by the international agency Standard and Poor’s. The ratings agency has established the “Cosmic Index 50” in collaboration with the Organization for Islamic Cooperation in order to categorize the different groups that participate  in the Islamic financial market. The index will include the shares of the most important Islamic financial institutions in the Arab world.

A stock market index is a method of measuring a section of the stock market. Many indices are used as benchmarks to measure the performance of portfolios such as mutual funds.

Standard and Poor’s is a leading provider of financial market intelligence. It is one of the world’s foremost sources of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data–the company is an essential part of the world’s financial infrastructure. The ratings agency has been providing financial decision-makers with the intelligence they need for market decisions for more than 150 years.

The “Cosmic Index 50” is expected to measure bank performance in different Arab countries including: Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Malaysia, Tunisia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Ivory Coast and Kazakhstan.

Mr. Fouad Rashid, the president of Bahrain stock exchange weighed in on the new index. “This initiative will reveal the investment opportunities in Islamic financial markets,” he said. Mr. Rashid added that the index will attract all investors who want to conduct their business in compliance with Sharia.

The interest in Islamic finance is growing steadily among  investors in the Arab world. Yet, the lack of academic research on the benefits and the challenges  of financial market is inhibiting its expansion  in the world as a new model of banking practices based on partnership between the bank and the client.

Edited by Laura Cooper