The issuance of Islamic bonds is currently being pushed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which will help the local market slowly achieve international standard.

Islamic bonds are a tradable Shariah-compliant capital market products providing medium to long-term fixed or variable rates of return.

SEC Commissioner Juanita Cueto told reporters in a briefing that they are very eager to push Islamic bonds.

“We are studying it now, the Islamic bonds, which have been very popular in Malaysia and we are already studying the mechanics for that,” she said.

SEC Chairman Teresita Herbosa said that with regards to Islamic bonds, some Asian countries have been inviting the Philippines to take part on the workshops about it.

“In fact, we are going to attend on Monday [today] the first Islamic finance workshop for the Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] that will be in line also with the government policy to ride on with the Bangsamoro agreement,” she said.

Cueto added that Islamic bonds are going to have a different framework compared to the usual framework for bonds issuance.

“We have a different framework because it’s also dependent on principles of the Shariah law, so we have to conform to that, which is more specialized than the regular securities regulations that we have,” she noted.

Herbosa also said that they are going to work with Philippine Stock Exchange for the guidelines of the Islamic bonds issuances.

She even mentioned that that they are working with other countries on the matter.

“I recall I attended one meeting in Singapore for the Asean bond market, and I know Indonesia and Malaysia are very much interested in putting together this Islamic Finance Securities. And I know that Indonesia proposed to have one big workshop also in particular, including Cambodia, Vietnam, and of course the Philippines,” Herbosa added.