NEW SHARIAH INDICES

The mad rush to design financial products that could attract the huge funds available with the oil-rich-Arabs is on the rise. In continuation of that trend Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, the provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data, launched three new compliant indices claimed to be Shari’ah compliant. The three indices launched are S&P Global Infrastructure Shari’ah, S&P Global Healthcare Shari’ah, and S&P/IFCI Large-MidCap Shari’ah. The S&P Global Infrastructure Shari’ah Index is designed to provide liquid and tradable exposure for 20 companies from around the world that represent the listed infrastructure universe while adopting explicit selection criteria defined by Islamic law. S&P Shari’ah Indices exclude businesses that offer products and services which are considered unacceptable or non-compliant according to Shari’ah-law, such as advertising and media, alcohol, financials, gambling, pork, pornography, tobacco, and the trading of gold and silver as cash on a deferred basis.