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Arfat Selvam Alliance LLC launches its islamic banking and finance practice
Arfat Selvam Alliance LLC (ASA) has launched its Islamic banking and finance practice. With a growing trend in Islamic banking and finance, the managing director of ASA – Mrs Selvam is pioneering the legal service for this multi-billion dollar industry in Singapore.
Mrs Selvam was the former President of the Law Society of Singapore and has over thirty years experience in corporate finance having been at the forefront of the development of the financial services market in Singapore. She recently set up ASA, following a restructuring of ASG Law Corporation in August 2005.
She said, "the launching of our Islamic banking and finance practice takes us another step forward in our quest to become a full service boutique corporate and financial services law firm, providing our clients with legal advice, both conventional as well as syariah-based.” “It is certainly going to be a growth area in the next decade and we are currently well placed to be part of this development in Singapore", she added. Mrs Selvam has said that several banks and financial institutions have already approached her on working out their strategies in this region.
This is also in line with Singapore’s efforts to carve for itself a significant slice of the multi-billion dollar Islamic banking market. In April this year, Singapore was made a full member of the Islamic Financial Services Board, an international board that sets regulatory standards for the industry. Furthermore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently gave the nod for banks here to offer a key form of Islamic financing in the Middle East, called murabaha. The government has also taken steps to facilitate Islamic financial products, such as the removal of the double imposition of stamp duties on property transactions. In August, the International Board for Economic Development (Isbed) registered itself here and unveiled plans for a new Islamic financial index made up of stocks listed on the Singapore Exchange.
"Islamic banking and financial services law is unlike conventional commercial law that people are familiar with. Apart from being able to marry my personal faith as a Muslim and my professional experience as a corporate lawyer, this area of practice allows one to include principles of social responsibility and ethical considerations in commercial activities. Such principles have yet to gain widespread acceptance in the business world as we know it," explained Mrs Selvam.
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She is also setting up a regional legal grouping for Islamic financing, called Asian Islamic Finance Alliance (AIFA). The strategic alliance (with tie-ups with other law firms in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei) will provide a one stop legal service for clients who seek advice and support for the structuring of syariah-compliant financial products, and in the funding of mergers, acquisitions and infrastructure transactions.
Said Mrs Selvam, "with AIFA, we are positioned to provide Islamic banking and financial services in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, and we will seek to expand this network to cater to the needs of clients seeking Islamic financial products globally."
"These clients are not confined to Muslims, as the fair basis for risks and rewards in products structured along syariah principles are attracting a rapidly growing pool of non-Muslim funds too."
It's been said that at least 70 per cent of the Islamic banking clients of OCBC Bank and HSBC Bank in Malaysia are non-Muslims. It is also said that there are currently over 265 Islamic financial institutions in the world with a market capitalisation of US$13 billion and assets in excess of US$262 billion.
Notes to Editors
1. Murabaha - derived from the Arabic word ribhun which means an agreed upon profit - is commonly used as short-term finance for trading.
2. Arfat Selvam Alliance LLC (ASA) is a boutique corporate and financial services law firm specialising in mergers and acquisitions, takeovers, corporate finance, banking and securities, financial services and Islamic banking and finance.
3. Asian Islamic Finance Alliance (AIFA) is a regional legal grouping for Islamic financing, all sharing the same vision to develop a regional Islamic finance practice through collaboration. Presently, the alliance consists of Ahmad Isa & Partners in Brunei Darussalam, Minang Warman Sofyan & Associates in Indonesia, Abdul Raman Saad & Associates in Malaysia and Arfat Selvam Alliance LLC in Singapore.
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