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Islamic private equity fund
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Islamic Private Equity
Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com Introduction and basic observations Private equity investment (partnership in non-listed companies) is a rational choice for any investor in the diversification of their investment portfolio. Next to cash, stock, fixed income bonds and real estate, private equity is con- sidered to be the fifth asset class in every contemporary strategy develop- ment for conventional asset allocation. Islamic finance considers the pure lending of money against interest as haram or prohibited. Partnerships and asset based trade finance are the core of its principles. The Muslim investor can neither lend money against interest nor trade in in- terest based debt instruments (i.e. conventional fixed income bonds). But the concepts of risk, and profit or loss sharing align the basics of the private equity markets with the Shari’ah ideals. There is an obvious window for coop- eration and convergence between (conventional) private equity finance and the Islamic investor. The direct involvement of Investors in target companies allows them to reducing any asymmetry of information (one of the typical dangers of publicly listed companies is insider trading) and to upgrade the internal corporate governance as much as possible. The higher risk profile – as compared to investment in listed instruments - is matched by prospects of a fairer share of the profits. Hence, the present boom of the Islamic private equity market is not a coincidence. Paul Wouters Paul Wouters is a Belgian lawyer who has been a Turkish resident for some years now. Trained as a cor- porate and financial regulations practitioner in Europe, he focused on melting down differences in legal cultures that would benefit a large, international clientele. Wouters is a member of the advisory board of Islamic Finance news (Malaysia) and publishes worldwide opinions and articles on the subject of Islamic finance and banking. He is partner at Bener Consulting (Istanbul-Turkey) and B-S-C-C Capital Partners (East Sussex – UK). Paul Wouters can be reached at pwouters.law@gmail.com I ©
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Islamic Private Equity
Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com Table of Contents Understanding Islamic Private Equity Funds 1 Islamic Private Equity Fund 3 Investors 4 Management Team 5 Investment Strategy 6 Target Company 6 Haram activities 6 Financial ratios 7 Total debt 7 Total interest bearing securities and cash 7 Accounts receivable 7 Legal Challenges 9 Islamic Liquidity Management 10 Shariah Adviser and Shariah Compliance Officer 10 Shariah awareness 11 Coexistence with conventional finance 11 Case study: Coexistence of conventional and Islamic Investors 12 Conclusion 13 Used Abbreviations DJIM Dow Jones Islamic Markets Index EVCA European Venture Capital Association FMV Fair Market Value GP General Partner IPEF Islamic Private Equity Fund IPO Initial Public Offering IRR Internal Rate of Return LP Limited Partnership PLS Profit and Loss Sharing ROI Return on Investment SSB Shariah Supervisory Board TraFiCo Trade Finance Company – uses contracts such as the Ijarah or Murabahah VC Venture Capital From the same author: WOUTERS, Paul, Venture Capital “investment company” – SICAR Luxembourg, (2004) WOUTERS, Paul, The European Company SE (2004) WOUTERS, Paul, Finance Contracts – the Islamic approach (2005) WOUTERS, Paul, Compliance and Compliance Function (2006) WOUTERS, Paul, Mediation – Introduction – Belgian perspective in the EU (2006) WOUTERS, Paul, SPF Luxembourg – Société de Gestion de Patrimoine Familiale, Company for Family Wealth Management (2007) © II
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Islamic Private Equity
Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com Islamic Private Equity Funds Understanding Islamic • • real estate; fixed income; Private Equity Funds • • trade finance contracts (Murabahah, Ijarah); equity listed on stock exchanges; • mixed. When people talk about private equity, they are refer- ring to shareholdings in companies that are not listed Private equity also can be aimed at middle-sized to on a public stock exchange. Non-listed companies are large target companies and even listed companies not subject to the same level of government regulation (so-called “take privates”). Those deals, however, usu- and disclosure rules as listed ones. Since there also is ally involve companies in the “out zone” (already too no “daily market” where the stock is regularly traded, much debt financing because they’re at a later stage private equity is less liquid than publicly traded equity. of their life cycle) for Islamic compliant private equity And anyhow, those smaller companies have far less investment and, moreover, often thrive on big interest- outstanding stocks to be traded or negotiated, leav- based financial debt leverage. Generally, the following ing little room for sufficient volatility. Moreover, the industries are within the scope of activities of private transfer of private equity in such companies is mostly equity investors: regulated by law, the articles of association or even • technology stipulated in shareholders’ agreements. • telecommunications • industrial products Venture capital (VC) usually means capital that is • healthcare and pharmaceuticals made available to small and medium-sized enter- • services and retail prises with perceived exceptional growth potential. VC • leisure and media (sometimes regarded as investments are generally classified as high risk with unlawful — or allowed only under strict conditions — high return potential. The aim of the VC investor is to by Shariah scholars because of the possible sale of build substantial additional business value within a alcoholic products and the presence of reprehensible certain time frame (mostly four to six years) and then music and movie displays). exit, typically through an initial public offering, merg- er or buyout strategy. A VC investment is typified by The present growth of the sovereign wealth funds and active ownership, extra capital injections, the imple- an expanding market of “secondary buyouts” (private mentation of aggressive but realistic business plans, equity funds that take over companies already in the additional managerial and technical expertise, and portfolio of other PEFs in order to propel them to a networking contacts/synergy offered by the investor higher stage of their development), however, also will to the target company. Effective governance and a dis- open markets for upscale and major Islamic compli- ciplined approach are key to realizing the projected rapid ant-geared transactions. but sustainable growth. Most jurisdictions do not have specific guidelines for In Europe, private equity is to be understood as VC setting up and managing Islamic VC. Malaysia is an at any stage of the life cycle of the target company. exception, and it is useful to direct the reader’s atten- In the US, however, VC typically refers to early-stage tion to the “Guidelines and Best Practices on Islamic investments, while private equity is normally related Venture Capital” issued in May 2008 by the Securities to financial involvement in later stages (e.g. manage- Commission Malaysia (SC) in this regard. Other sourc- ment buyout or buy-in). es of information are the Accounting and Auditing Or- ganization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) Besides the so-called private equity, the following ma- in Bahrain and UAE-based Dubai Financial Services jor asset classes could be available for Islamic funds: Authority. • commodities and money markets; © IPage 1
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Islamic Private Equity
Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com In essence, Islamic finance strives to promote the real governance regulations of the jurisdiction in which economy by means of: they are traded. They are supervised by local capital i. risk/profit- and loss-sharing (PLS) partner markets regulators and stock exchange authorities. ships; and The reporting and transparency duties allow the ii. asset-based trade finance contracts investor to gain sufficient insight and make educated (Murabahah, Ijarah and Salam). investment decisions. Depending on the volatility of the markets, it is relatively easy to invest or disinvest A broad generalization would be that for the Islamic in that kind of stock. economy, unlike assets, money is not a commod- ity that can be traded for profit. Money is merely an Private equity investment, on the other hand, refers to instrument to measure the value of things (e.g. one shares of non-listed companies. These mostly young glass of soft drink = EUR1 = two candy bars) and a companies usually are still in the start-up or early payment facilitator (instead of barter). Rather, money phase of their existence. As they do not yet have a has to be exchanged against money at par value and proven performance record and usually also lack suffi- on the spot. cient assets, these companies have difficulty in getting access to public investment or even to much-desired The lending of money against interest (payment re- bank loans. Most of the time, additional injection of flecting a perceived opportunity cost to the lender and capital is the only option available. an increment that is due because of the simple lapse of time) is riba and haram or prohibited. Islamic fi- Another issue with this type of companies is that gen- nance, therefore, will need to be asset-based instead erally, their shares are not easily transferable. This of debt-based. may be due to legal barriers such as laws, articles of association or private shareholder agreements. For a long time now, learned Shariah scholars have been pushing towards PLS partnership structures. Furthermore, without an exchange listing, their shares These partnerships lead to: (i) shared investment of are not available for easy trading. Investors therefore money and labor; and (ii) benefits and losses that are often find it difficult to exit their investment until a shared equitably. certain growth potential has been reached so other investors can be attracted. Private equity, by conse- The PLS mode of finance — and in general, all asset- quence, is marked by a higher risk profile and a longer based finance — provides the most appropriate in- time span of illiquidity. This last aspect is in line with strument for the accomplishment of fairness in an the vision of many Shariah scholars. efficient manner. By way of illustration, consider that a conventional bank or financier relies on the pure More conservative scholars are relatively hesitant to lending of money against interest with a secured and condone the fast buying/selling of equity on stock preferred status (debt-based finance). The goal is to markets as this comes close to gambling, in their isolate risk, if any, from the banker who in effect seeks opinion. This perspective explains at least in part why not to share risk and profit. Actually, the banker does not all of Islamic jurisdictions have taken a binding not want the outcome of the venture for the entrepre- positive stance yet towards the public equity markets. neur (big or small success or even failure) to affect his The slower turnaround, combined with PLS principles, position at all (in any case, fixed return/profit and, if is therefore appealing to many Shariah scholars. so needed, even a forced payback). There are basically three major groups of private eq- The PLS principle in Islamic finance generates ef- uity investments: ficiency through sharing risk and therefore, appears i. investment in organic growth destined to play a more important role in private eq- ii. increasing the value of the core business uity investment. (restructuring) iii. buy and build (growth by synergy between the (Public) equity investment relates to investment target companies in a portfolio). in shares listed on public stock exchanges. Its shareholdings are generally in companies with Special focus is given by investors to maximize any considerable size and known performance records. potential upside in those areas in order to optimize Those companies also are subject to disclosure and the value — and the profit — on exit. Such exit typically © Page 2
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Islamic Private Equity
Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com takes place through an IPO, a sale, a merger or a buy- out. In most cases, an exit at mid-period may not be Basic IPEF fund structure possible or can only be done at great cost. However, a considerable number of target companies fail to or at least do not reach the desired return on investment (ROI) on exit. This explains the need to “pool” the money of several investors in a fund and then channel that money to several target companies. Such an approach will dis- perse the risk and spread the financial failure of one venture over the total investments held by the [Islam- ic] Private Investment Fund [I]PEF and ultimately, over all the individual investors. As is the case with other asset classes, markets evolve in cycles. It is difficult to predict if they will move up or down over a longer investment period. Neverthe- 1. Shariah adviser (SA) or Shariah Supervisory less, the overall annual return of investments through Board (SSB) sets the Shariah statement private equity funds between 1960 and 2000 was of policy 19.6% (source: EVCA). Private equity statistically gen- 2. Investors finance the IPEF erates sufficient more return than investments on the 3. Management team (MT) identifies and ac- stock exchange, provided there is a good strategy and quires equity in the target companies (TC) sound management. on behalf of the IPEF 4. SA monitors the follow-up of statement of policy and overall compliancy Islamic Private Equity 5. MT and Shariah compliance officer (SCO) monitor the TC for the IPEF — Shariah irregu- Funds (IPEFs) larities discovered in that reporting from the TC will be reported by the SCO to the SA Basic remarks 6. MT keeps the investors updated on the de- A fund allows the pooling of investors and results in a velopment of the TC more substantial concentration of capital. This provides 7. On decision of the IPEF, the MT ultimately ex- access to a more diverse range of investments than ecutes the exit out of the TC through IPO/sale would be accessible to each investor individually. 8. The profits/losses of that exit flow back to the IPEF that distributes them to the investors It also spreads the risk over more target companies and allows the services of specialized investment legal structures available in any specific jurisdiction managers to be brought in. (trusts, companies and funds), tax requirements and specific Shariah constraints. The choice of jurisdiction and legal structure of the IPEF are important. Attention should be paid not only As the basic structure of fund transactions is one of to the types of fund structures available in the host money flows — downstream from the investors to a country of the IPEF, but also to the potential funds that fund, and then to the target company and then again may be marketed to investors in their home jurisdic- upstream from the target company, over the fund to tions and type of investments they are allowed to ven- the investors — tax evasion and exchange regulations/ ture into in the jurisdictions of the target companies. treaties for the avoidance of double taxation and mon- It is important to consider cross-jurisdictional issues ey laundering regulations will also be aspects of sig- between the investor, the IPEF and target company nificant consideration. home markets (FDI regulations and so on). The organization and function of the fund vehicle The final decision on what legal vehicle to use for the must be Shariah compliant. This means that the legal IPEF will be influenced by, among other things, the advisers will have to model some of the clauses and © Page 3
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Islamic Private Equity
Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com mechanisms to meet the requirements of the Shariah due diligence reviews, obtain the investor agreement in general and the principles of Mudarabah or Mush- and undertake the initial equity acquisition in the tar- arakah PLS partnerships and Wakalah in particular. get company. The general partner is also responsible for managing the target companies and to ultimately The structure can be open-ended (easy outflow of ex- conduct the exit strategy on behalf of the IPEF. isting investors and additional inflow of new investors) or closed-end. It must be noted that open-ended struc- Any conventional financial institution (i.e. the bank) tures are often avoided and, on the contrary, certain can set up such an IPEF, provided its local regulations lock-in structures are sometimes perceived as more do not require special licenses for the activity and the Shariah compliant. vehicles are properly isolated from conventional ac- tivities and managed in a compliant way. Bearing these issues in mind, the most appropriate structure for an IPEF may vary from a standalone cor- poration (with general assembly of shareholders/in- Investors vestors and board of directors) and with an internal or external management team to a real fund/trust Investors in private equity might be real or legal per- structure that holds the monies (and later, the equity), sons. They are typically high net worth individuals (HN- managed by an outside management team (either a WIs), family trusts, corporations and institutions. They company or real persons). This second structure may want to diversify their portfolios and achieve higher behave as a (sub)-contracting fund manager or as a returns on investment for their medium-to-long-term general partner in an overall partnership structure. financial commitment and the higher risk profile by: • optimizing the innovative characteristics; and The IPEF will invest in the underlying target compa- • exploiting the strong growth potential of the nies and will, upon the exit thereof, incur losses or target company. gain profits. The IPEF will then distribute net capital gains (or losses) back to the underlying investors. (1) The origin or residence of certain underlying inves- tors, combined with (2) the legal structure and home Sufficient consideration should be given to the choice regulations of the IPEF structure that is withheld and between a regulated (listed) or non-regulated (dis- (3) the regulations of the host countries of the target creet) special purpose vehicle (SPV) as this might companies, may influence the range of possible in- have a significant impact on the tax implications for vestments available. The combination of those three any capital market regulatory issues. aspects needs to be well balanced from the start. Some scholars do not consider the type of vehicle For IPEFs, investor profiles indeed may be as impor- used to be significant as long as its aspects do not tant as company profiles. Some jurisdictions have contravene the basics of the Mudarabah and Mush- a reputation of being tax havens (usually, they also arakah PLS partnerships or other nominate contracts have few or no money laundering compliance regu- like the Wakalah. In this context, it may be observed lations). Investors resident in those jurisdictions are that Malaysia allows the use of corporations. sometimes shunned by local regulators at the IPEF or target company level, even when the investors origi- Some conservative Shariah scholars however oppose nating from such jurisdictions would only have a small to the use of western-style “companies”. They only ac- portion in the IPEF. cept the Mudarabah and Musharakah PLS partner- ships or at least legal structures that emulate those Foreign investment restrictions, financial market reg- very closely (frequently common-law style limited part- ulations, disclosure requirements and so on might nerships (LPs) where the same investors — mostly HN- cause serious problems. The compliance require- WIs and institutional investors — may be grouped as ments of a Luxembourg-based IPEF vis-à-vis those of limited partners), together with the use of other nomi- US-, Gulf- and Malaysia-based investors might there- nate contracts like the Wakalah. fore cause several sets of regulatory hurdles in differ- ent jurisdictions at the same time. After the initial fundraising, the promoter of the IPEF usually becomes the general partner (management The promoter of any type of investment fund — IPEFs team). They will identify the target companies, conduct included — generally prepares a memorandum and an © Page 4
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Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com executive summary to introduce investors properly in Furthermore, a team that follows the beaten track the set-up of the envisaged fund. Usually, there will might venture into a mature and over-competitive mar- be a series of “closings” when the various investors ket, destined to underperform or fail. An innovative confirm their commitment to the IPEF. approach in emerging markets has to be preferred, combined with a weathered management team. When the traditional “road show” undertaken by invest- ment brokers can be considered a “public offering”, Where the management team also is to run other local capital markets regulations must be followed, (maybe even non-Shariah compliant) portfolios, it permission obtained from the relevant authorities, is necessary to verify whether or not the presented and official memoranda drafted and approved. strategies are still compatible. Where there is a mix of Shariah compliant and conventional portfolios to As innovation evolves faster and faster, and sometimes be managed, it has to be determined whether or not in unpredictable directions, it becomes more and more the strategies could cause friction with the compliant difficult for the individual investor to single out a good project. investment, manage it properly, keep a competitive edge and then grab a good exit opportunity. Sound and transparent reporting to investors during the lifespan of the IPEF is a must. Things often do not This is important when that private equity portfolio happen suddenly and timely intervention with addi- becomes diversified over several target companies tional funding can save many a mishap. with a geographical spread. Specialized and reliable help from a good management team then becomes During the first stage, the management team has the essential. crucial responsibility of identifying the target compa- nies that meet the desired investment profile and that match the fixed return on investment (ROI) strategies. Management team It has to make sound due diligence, to present the opportunity properly to the investors and then make If a partnership structure has been chosen, then usu- the acquisition on behalf of the IPEF. Strong cash flow, ally the general partner becomes the management profitability, ability to attract and keep high-profile cli- team. It is possible, however, that (part of) this task is ents, good governance and sound business strategies outsourced to outside fund managers. should prevail in choosing and managing the target companies. The composition of the management team, which may consist of natural persons or a separate legal en- During the second stage, in addition to new financial tity, is crucial to the success of the whole venture. The resources brought in by the IPEF, the management team should not be too broad and should be eager team could add value to the target companies through to make the business. The portfolio(s) that are man- intellectual capital and synergy. aged should not be too wide and should be within the scope of the available capabilities and qualifications Where needed, it will be involved in: of the team. • restructuring part or all of the business activities and strategies Sufficient local introduction and experience are im- • changing the CEO and/or CFO or adapting portant for good management of the target compa- management structures nies. Indeed, the same line of business is performed • optimizing cost structures in different ways, according to different regulations • general assistance and guidance to realize and business cultures in the various geographical lo- the set growth targets. cations of the investments. It is hardly “one size fits all”. It could also be important to keep the in-house man- agement of the target company to deal with the op- Experience has taught us that the past track record of erational side of the business, but to disconnect them a management team has little or no value in determin- from the financial issues and shift those to the man- ing future performance. Markets and opportunities agement team. change constantly and one lucky shot might hide a consistent history of failure of a management team. During the third stage, the management team will © Page 5
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Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com negotiate and finalize the envisaged exit strategies. Depending on the IPEF structure, the general partner Smaller companies with the potential for significant (management team) will take a profit share or man- growth are high on the list of priorities. These types agement fee that may be dependent on a mixture of of enterprises have little interest leverage and there performance-based criteria and a fixed fee. still is a considerable scope of negotiation room for structuring and asserting compliance. Any agreements between the IPEF and its managers are favored to be structured around the nominate Haram activities Mudarabah and Musharakah concepts (may be com- Here is a non-exhaustive list of possible elimination bined by a Wakalah). criteria that would classify an investment opportunity as haram or unlawful. The definition of “haram” may vary and will be subject to fine tuning by the Shariah Investment strategy adviser or Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) of the IPEF. They include companies that: A sufficiently diversified portfolio should target an at- • produce/slaughter/sell/trade or distribute tractive return with acceptable risk through carefully pork (or pork-related) products, blood selected and monitored investments, taking the fol- • engage in pornography or obscenity in any form lowing criteria into consideration: • primarily engage in the entertainment • Geographical distribution business (films, video, theater, cinema) • Business and industry sectors involved • engage in gambling, casinos, lotteries and • Currency risk related games and activities like bookmakers • Term of investment • are active in non-compliant finance or • General risk profile insurance • Projected return • weapons industry, defense or related • produce/distil/sell/trade or distribute Attention should be paid to local regulatory restraints alcoholic beverages or related products such as access to ownership of financial institutions, • produce/grow/sell/trade or distribute strategic industries and real estate acquisition by for- intoxicants or related products eigners etc. (drugs, tobacco) • engage in human cloning, trades/produces or The strategy should be clearly defined and manage- products related to aborted human fetuses or able by the management team, which should obvious- other ethical border transgressions ly not only have financial expertise but also specific • have bad employee records, environmental business knowledge in the fields of activities of the records. target companies. Although diversity of industries in a portfolio certainly has merits, it has been proven that For referral and comparison, below is a list of haram private equity investments are more likely to be suc- activities as stipulated in the Guidelines and Best cessful when they are more focused. Practices on Islamic Venture Capital from the SC. The IPEF should not engage in: The strategy will also be bound by the haram activities • financial services based on riba (interest); and financial ratios that the target company will face, • gambling and gaming; as explained below. • manufacture or sale of non-halal products or related products; • conventional insurance; Target company • entertainment activities that are non- permissible according to the Shariah; • manufacture or sale of tobacco-based Target companies will be identified through contacts products or related products; within the IPEF network, soliciting by the target com- • stockbroking of share trading in non-Shariah panies themselves and sector tracking. A thorough compliant securities; due diligence on financial and non-financial issues, • hotels and resorts; projected ROI, synergy and timing will help single out • by ijtihad, other activities the Shariah adviser any interesting investments. may deem non-permissible. © Page 6
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Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com The list of excluded activities may vary from time to Taqi Usmani (Pakistan), Prof Saleh Tuğ (Turkey) and time and from source to source. The reason is that Sheikh Mohammad Al-Tayyed Al Najar (Egypt), Dow some of those activities are not really haram but Jones developed the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index rather should be avoided or because they could lead in 1999. Since then, similar templates have been de- to “problem” situations (for instance, the hotel busi- veloped and widely accepted in the Islamic finance ness). They are either included or excluded following community. The criteria governing these types of in- the decision of the Shariah adviser. vestments in equity of listed companies may be out- lined as follows: In any case, careful attention should be paid to all tar- get companies that could derive partial income from • Total debt such haram activities such as supermarket chains, Excludes investments when total interest-based debt airlines, hotels and restaurants that incidentally sell divided by 12-month average market capitalization alcohol, cigarettes and so on. exceeds (or is equal to) 33%. For investments in publicly listed companies, it is • Total interest-bearing securities and cash more or less generally accepted that any haram in- Excludes investments when total cash and interest- come of a non-compliant target company that does bearing securities divided by 12-month average mar- not exceed 5% (some scholars even go as high as ket capitalization exceeds (or is equal to) 33%. 15%) of overall gross income is considered marginal or incidental. • Accounts receivable Excludes investments in target companies if accounts The target company is therefore still acceptable, pro- receivable divided by total assets is greater than (or vided sufficient cleansing according to the guidelines equal to) 33%. set forth by the Shariah adviser is undertaken. It is likely that the adviser will allow the same leniency to- In short, companies will be excluded when they are wards the private equity investments. too much exposed to interest-based lending or when the liquidity or debt ratios are too high and would boil Note that by respecting this threshold, the company down to actual trading of cash or debt (both problem- does not become compliant but only still is accept- atic for the Shariah and, therefore, to be avoided). able for investment. As the Prophet Muhammad said: “One third is big or abundant.” As we will see later, sometimes a “ma- Therefore, it is recommended that the company jority” rule (50% or even more) is applied by certain strives for 100% compliant activity —otherwise, un- parties. desired business developments in the haram activ- ity may cause problems and the cleansing exercise As mentioned earlier, any haram income from unlaw- could affect the profitability of the IPEF overall. Since ful activities and interest also has to be contained at the IPEF will mostly focus on relatively immature tar- low rates, usually a 5% maximum is acceptable (and get companies, such selection should be possible. then this income has to be cleansed). Note that by respecting these thresholds, the company does not Financial ratios become compliant but only still is acceptable for in- It is extremely difficult to find target companies that vestment and free trading of its equity. are completely “interest free”. Most Shariah scholars have recognized and accepted this, and allow coop- The follow-up and application of these guidelines may eration for the general benefit of all. be difficult. The financial needs of the target company may fluctuate quickly and local markets often do not Though some scholars still insist on prompt pay-off offer sufficient compliant “interest-free” financing of all outstanding riba-based debt, the general ac- products. cepted standard is that a partial contamination of a target company does not pose an insurmountable It also is important to note that the DJIM approach hindrance to investment. (market capitalization as a benchmark) may be an easy tracker and results in easily verifiable figures Following the methodology set out in 1987 by lead- but has the downside of making the actual thresh- ing Islamic finance scholars Justice (Rtd) Muhammad old float. The consequence, indeed, is that market © Page 7
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Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com Financial screening ratios (simplified) Debt ratio (%) Receivables ratio Cash + Interest- Non-permissible bearing ratio income/total income DJIM1 33 33% 33% ≤ 5% FTSE2 33 50% 33% ≤ 5% S&P3 33 49% 33% ≤ 5% MSCI4 33 70% 33% ≤ 5% Parsoli5 33 45% 33% ≤ 10% HK Islamic Index6 33 49% 33% ≤ 5% 1 Trailing 12 months average market capitalization 1 Guide to DJIM Indexes November 2007 2 Total assets 2 Ground Rules for the Management of FTSE Shariah Global Equity 3 Market value equity Index Series Version 1.2 March 2008 4 Total assets 3 S&P Shariah Indices Index Methodology June 2007 5 Trlng 12 Mth Av Market Cap 4 Morgan Stanley MSCI Islamic Index Series Methodology April 2007 6 Trlng 12 Mth Av Market Cap 5 Parsoli Islamic Equity Index PIE 6 Hong Kong Islamic Index fluctuations can suddenly affect a target company’s Together with FTSE Group and Yasaar, the Shariah Ad- eligibility. Higher share prices result in higher upwards visory Council (SAC) of the SC developed two screen- leniency toward the level of allowed interest-based fi- ing methodologies: the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Hijrah nancing and a sudden drop in share prices may sud- Shariah Index, which follows the international FTSE denly force a company into the “out” (haram) zone. standards; and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia EMAS Sha- riah Index, which caters more for the local markets In general, since IPEFs will target unlisted companies, and uses different benchmarks — 5% revenues max the FTSE screening ratios that are based on total as- (clearly unlawful activities: riba from interest-based set values appear to be a sound tool. The Shariah companies such as banks, gambling, liquor and pork), adviser sets out rules and may decide on delays for 10% revenues max for items that are difficult to avoid compliancy before or after an acquisition is made. in present market conditions (interests from fixed in- The parameters set forth above weigh more heavily come deposits, tobacco-related activities), and a 25% than one might appreciate at first glance. Any impure benchmark (non-permissible profits from otherwise income — also UNDER the 5% threshold — will have to permissible business activities including share trad- be cleansed. ing and stockbroking, hotel, resorts that may be serv- ing alcoholic drinks to non-Muslims and so on). The This process of purification entails distribution of said ratio for accounts receivable is not withheld mainly “haram” profits to charity. Since such distributions because of the different stance taken by the local au- have a negative influence on the overall profitability of thorities to the sale of debt (Bai Dayn). the investment, it is best to keep them to the minimum. Global Investment House (GIH) developed the Global The Shariah screening criteria from AAOIFI, as set forth GCC Islamic Index for equity listed on the GCC stock in Standard No 21 on Financial Papers (May 2006), exchanges (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Ara- follow the regular haram business activity screening bia and the UAE). It holds the companies of which the (be it that the articles of association of the company articles of association mention that the company is may not contain reference to any excluded activity — fully compliant. even if the company is not actually engaged in that activity). Two out of three of the included financial The final screening criteria that will be withheld by the screens use the market capitalization as a basis, the Shariah scholar will be a mix of the abovementioned one-third rule of thumb reigns as does the 5% thresh- generally accepted standards used to track larger old rule (with cleansing duty). Companies that are fully numbers of listed stocks and maybe his personal liquid or debt can only be traded at par value, just to opinion based on larger consensus. The final criteria name the most important characteristics. comprise a mix of the abovementioned “generally © Page 8
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Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com accepted standards” and a personal opinion based way securing profit and excluding the risk of sharing a on consensus. loss) is also contrary to the Shariah. Sometimes, par- ties wrongly want to negotiate beforehand a guaran- It is common practice during the life cycle of an teed minimum price at exit (initial investment or even investment by an IPEF for the target company to a multiple thereof). Evaluation of fair market value calculate the internal rate of return (IRR) based on and company performance are to be preferred. fair market value (FMV). This valuation calculation is used to determine the share price. Standard rules On the other hand, unequal preference to profits might (such as the International Private Equity and Venture be construed within limits when attached to common Capital Valuation Guidelines) may be applied to this stock, as long as there is no guaranteed minimum calculation, subject to the approval of the Shariah return. Also, certain convertible and exchangeable adviser to the IPEF. structures have been approved. Certain vesting techniques might be used. This rough- Legal challenges ly means that some stocks only accrue value for the entrepreneur (or key employees) after agreed periods Besides the haram categories and financial ratios ex- have elapsed or benchmarks reached. plained above, there are important restraints in the form and contents of the legal documentation related Such stock helps to retain investor/employee interest to the compliant project. These must be compliant in the business or it simply places a time frame on with the Shariah. value creation before the actual transfer. Certain lock- in agreements also have been approved. Anyone who has worked in a Shariah compliant envi- ronment knows that combining conventional regula- Contractual restrictions and insertion of any such cri- tions with the provisions of the Shariah is, in general, teria into the target company’s by-laws are suggested possible. There are, however, certain restrictions of to ensure compliance. public order at some of the local host jurisdictions that may cause legal headaches or undesired tax results. Indeed, good covenants with the management team and the target company (reporting, board meetings, The fundamentals of the Shariah will govern all as- financial follow-up and so on) are necessary to ensure pects of the IPEF’s business practices. For instance, that the venture is being managed according to plan the financial relations between the investors must be and to the agreed guidelines. compliant. The new legal environment will have to be tailored to the fundamental principles of the Mudara- Where the IPEF has influence on the target company, bah of Musharakah PLS. restraints will also have to be transposed to that un- derlying level, to avoid friction or incompatibility with While Shariah principles require that any loss is borne the other shareholders or existing contracts. by the participants in proportion to their invested capi- tal, profit can be shared at levels agreed earlier, stipu- At the setting up of an IPEF structure, it must be re- lated in equitable financial agreements. called that Islamic finance is based on a set of reli- gious beliefs. It is therefore important to remember For instance, preferred stock — in so far as for instance that though various investors may commit themselves giving the holder the right of: to using an IPEF, their personal perspectives on the i. a preference payout before the common stock Shariah may prevent them from participating in cer- at liquidation (this would eliminate the equal sharing tain concrete investment proposals. To address this of the risks and the losses) situation, well-balanced “opt-out clauses” will be an ii. a periodically guaranteed fixed return on in- inherent part of the commitments. vestment (this would lead to riba and could lead to the exclusion of loss sharing) are prohibited. Furthermore, Also after the investment, differences of opinion may any cascade of equity classes with different subordi- arise concerning the application and the “exit” posi- nation is not acceptable. tion of the IPEF. Conciliation and remedy clauses will be key to resolving such issues and should be taken In general, guaranteed liquidation/exit pricing (in a into consideration at the setting up of the structure. © Page 9
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Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com Islamic liquidity • Ensure that all aspects of the business are in accordance with the Shariah (including port management folio management, trading practices, opera tional matters, administrative matters, and so on). • Provide Shariah expertise on documentation, A substantial part of the available cash will stay liquid structuring, investment instruments and for some time. At the early stage of the IPEF, this will ensure compliance with the general Shariah be the case simply because no investments have been principles and the standards, regulations and made yet and all funds are still in cash. That liquidity resolutions of the regulator. will then slowly be replaced by equity (shareholdings) • Scrutinize any compliance report or any as the IPEF starts investing in the target companies. investment transaction report prepared by the Shariah compliance officer. When the investments have been done, probably a • Provide written opinions of compliance from floating 20% or so of the funds will be held liquid, to time to time or when needed and at least be at hand for any additional financial intervention in annually to the board of directors of the IPEF. one of the target companies. These funds may not be deposited in interest-bearing bank accounts for obvi- In Malaysia, the appointment of such a Shariah ad- ous riba-related reasons. It may, however, be invested viser is also regulatory to the management team (if through Islamic compliant means, for instance, in this fits into a different management corporation). available Shariah compliant liquidity management The guidelines do not exclude that this could be the products or compliant stock, commodity Murabahah same person for the IPEF and the outside manage- and other contracts as long as they are approved by ment company. the Shariah adviser. Short-term trade finance con- tracts may also be envisaged either by the IPEF or a special SPV, either to the target companies or to third CIMB Muamalat Fund I parties, provided local business and company laws and regulations and tax rulings allow this in a profit- Founded in 2002, it was the first Asia-based IPEF. able way. As a parallel fund to the conventional Navis Asia Fund III, it was designed to co-invest in Shariah Shariah adviser and compliant investments. compliance officer Though investments are made at the Navis Asia Fund III investment committee level, they are sub- ject to investment guidelines as set forth by the The Shariah adviser or the Shariah Supervisory Board IPEF’s Shariah Supervisory Board. (SSB) will assume responsibility for the Shariah com- pliancy of the IPEF, and eventually the target compa- As the IPEF only holds a minority stake, those guide- nies and management team. lines are realistically flexible, though fully compliant with the Shariah standards. First of all, the overall quality and independence of the Shariah adviser or SSB are important. The com- position of the SBB or the choice of Shariah adviser Funds are channeled into Limited Partnerships must be such that their decisions support rather than (LP) — structured around Musharakah and Waka- contradict the Shariah position of the individual com- lah contracts — that invest in the underlying target pliant investors. A clear statement of the investment companies through share sale agreements or sub- policy criteria with respect to Shariah compliance, scription at capital raise. rules for refusal/acceptance of investments, cleans- ing procedures and the level of monitoring by the SSB For both the IPEF and the management team, Malay- (through the Shariah compliance officer) of the portfo- sia also advocates appointing a Shariah compliance lio should also be given special attention. officer who will do the following on a daily basis: Here is a summary of the standing guidelines of the • ensure full compliance of the activities; SC. It is advisable to appoint at least one Shariah ad- • report any non-compliance to the Shariah viser who will: adviser; © Page 10
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Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com • assist the Shariah adviser in certifying investors directly in a position to influence the target that the business is compliant; company. A controlling stake in a target company will • maintain the compliance records. allow the implementation of fully compliant policies. In general, the appointment of a Shariah compliance Besides compliance with the abovementioned finan- officer to the board of the IPEF and the management cial ratios, in general, the Shariah advisers tend to team is advisable. advise full transition to Shariah compliant structures (repayment of conventional debt) within three years following an acquisition. This time frame is usually Shariah awareness given so it would not disrupt the going concern. There is an absence of uniformity in the way that Sh- Highly leveraged companies should be restructured ariah principles are applied in different regions and to meet acceptable levels of Islamic debt at the earli- over time. This is not a downside. Differences chal- est possible time. This may be done using compliant lenge and spur innovation. finance structures such as Ijarah wa iktina etc. At present, there is not only a shortage of qualified The use of a trade finance company (TraFiCo) or the professionals (lawyers, bankers, scholars, academics guarantee of sufficient compliant funding from an Is- and so on) who are well versed in both the Shariah lamic financial institution could conventional inves- and conventional standards, but also a lack of Sha- tors and the target companies to “go all the way” and riah awareness among entrepreneurs and managers. commit to the compliant project. In order to obtain full compliance, it is not only neces- Regulatory, tax and accounting issues have to be sary that the Shariah adviser monitors the IPEF and dealt with on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis, and the target company. The management team, which this can sometimes lead to costly and lengthier trans- will be the link between the investors and the target action periods. company, should not fully depend on the Shariah compliance officer but provide and raise awareness If the Islamic finance instrument is not well known to among its members and keep close contact with the target companies, it will be necessary for manage- target company and the SSB. ment to be educated in order to fully understand the different compliant financing tools available. Rather Besides sufficient business/financial compliancy, than financing needs not being met, the variety of op- standardized Shariah compliancy checks should be tions available may surprise those new to the field. incorporated into basic systems to ensure follow-up. Confidence in the possibilities should be built. Certainly, at the level of the (maybe conventional) tar- get company, inadvertent, qualified breaches of the When compliant investors — through an IPEF — do not Shariah could cause substantial damage to reputa- have a majority stake in a target company, they should tion. pay special attention to the reduction and enforce- ability of a strong shareholders’ agreement. Such an agreement should guarantee Shariah compliance at Coexistence with all times. They should also reiterate the Shariah prin- ciples at the general assembly of the target compa- conventional finance nies at any time that’s convenient. When simple equity stakes are acquired through pur- Having said this, one can envision the intervention of chase of shareholdings from public companies on the a local Islamic financial institution to assist the tar- stock exchanges, the influence of investors on the get company if possible through a facility framework daily compliance of the target company is close to agreement in refinancing Shariah compliant financial non-existent. Investors basically have to live with the products where needed. Exposure to such products majority vote. enhances the awareness of the target company to the Shariah, and provided that local regulatory and tax With private equity injections, however, the case is regulations are favorable, it would be possible to set different. Private equity financing can place the same up an assisting TraFiCo. © Page 11
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Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com Case study: Coexistence of conventional and Islamic investors Simplified scheme of a private equity fund with a conventional SPV and an Islamic SPV as limited partners M.T. 1. Conventional investors commit funds to an SPV in a friendly environment for ultimate investment in the private equity fund (PEF) as limited partners 2. Islamic investors commit funds to an Islamic SPV located in a friendly environment for ultimate invest- ment in the PEF as limited partners but subject to Shariah screening by the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) 3. The management team (MT) is the general partner of the PEF i. The MT identifies the target companies (TC) ii. The MT presents the offers to the limited partners in the PEF iii. The MT calls the funds at the limited partners in the PEF iv. The conventional SPV transfers the funds to the PEF v. The Islamic SPV transfers the funds to the PEF subject to Shariah approval vi. The MT closes the deals and acquires the equity stakes in the TC for the PEF vii. The MT manages the investment on behalf of the PEF as general partner viii. The MT assists the exit of the TC and profit/loss is distributed through the PEF to the two SPVs and subsequently to the ultimate investors. 4 Reporting duties by the MT to all levels guarantees compliance with the investment policy and the Shariah. A graphic of this case study A basic scheme for cooperation between Islamic and responsible way. The PEF furthermore is located in conventional investors in a private equity fund (PEF) a tax-friendly capital gains environment and targets can be drafted now. The PEF has been made attrac- emerging markets in carefully chosen geographical tive to Shariah compliant investors through a focus on regions. The compliant investors opted to locate their investments in specific halal sectors. Cash manage- SPV offshore (Bahamas). At the level of the Islamic ment has been restricted in a compliant and socially SPV, there is full compliance and a Shariah compli- © Page 12
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Islamic Private Equity
Funds www.islamicfinancenews.com ance officer has been included. The jurisdiction of the invested for economical growth. PEF was chosen so that its regulators and tax- and Private equity investment confirms a social commit- money laundering supervisors would not to be too ment to the real economy in the real, tangible sense weary of the offshore Bahamas funding by the compli- of the word. The money will help creative entrepre- ant underlying SPV. neurs develop optimal business. It is a direct coop- eration between money and labor on a fair and equi- The conventional investors in this case are all Euro- table foundation. And that is exactly what the Islamic pean and living in “tax-unfriendly” jurisdictions. They economy and partnerships stand for. have opted, however, to locate their SPV in a European but tax-friendly jurisdiction. Their personal tax authori- Investors, however, do not necessarily have the time ties do not like the offshore structuring in the Baha- and knowledge (business lines, financial structuring, mas very much and the application of international and cultural or legal know-how) to enter those markets treaties for the avoidance of double taxation has been in the different geographical locations and to manage optimized. the ventures closely. This certainly is the case when the investments need to be diversified into several tar- At the levels below the SPV (PEF and target companies), get companies to spread risk. sufficient reporting systems have been installed to allow the Shariah compliance officer and the Shariah adviser There are ongoing complaints on the lack of PLS part- of the Islamic SPV to ascertain that the investment strat- nership funding at commercial/retail Islamic banks. egy meets the Shariah standards as agreed. Islamic banks indeed mostly stick to equity-based finance contracts, such as Murabahah and Ijarah. The compliant investors have a Shariah screening opt- These complaints are without merit, since this kind of out clause in place (prior to investment) and a concili- equity venturing simply is not (and will never be) their ation clause (after investment) to prevent their invest- line of business. The products they want to finance ments from inadvertently being mixed up in any target most of the time are not suitable for partnership fund- company with unacceptable haram activity. ing at all. The PEF, the management team and even the con- IPEFs, on the contrary, are perfect carriers for PLS ventional investors are happy and confident that the purposes. One may use the traditional Mudarabah or ethical approach injected into the project by the com- Musharakah PLS partnership. However, venturing/in- pliant investors will be matched by them without too vesting outside of the Islamic world sensu stricto will many difficulties. lead to the use of different, but still Shariah compli- ant, vehicles. It will be obvious from this scheme that other constel- lations may be agreed upon, depending on the situa- This will likely also lead to permissible cooperation tions, the parties involved and the financial weight of with conventional financiers. There is hardly a bet- the overall project. ter way available to make the conventional business world aware of the Islamic ethical standards and to For example, an additional TraFiCo or Islamic bank learn to respect them in a positive and inviting way. could assist on the level of the target company to ar- range for additional financing. Liquidity surpluses at the level of the target company, the PEF and the Is- The information contained in this document is pro- lamic SPV could be handled through compliant short- vided for general information purposes only. It is term investments (compliant stock, Islamic money intended to highlight issues and not meant to be markets, TraFiCo, Islamic bank investment accounts comprehensive nor to address the circumstances and programs). of any particular individual or entity. Data and fig- ures can be subject to changes and are for illus- Conclusion tration only. Every situation is different and needs Private equity investment is to be encouraged. Invest- specific counseling. Professional (legal) advice ment in stock exchanges in so-called (public) equity is should be sought before taking (or refraining from) a good basic for portfolio diversification. However, it any decision or action as a result of the contents benefits companies that are already big and the mon- of this article. ey goes from one investor to the other; it is not directly © Page 13
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