Omani companies will soon be allowed to issue sukuk to raise funds in the local market. The country's Capital Market Authority (CMA) is preparing the necessary regulations to facilitate the issuance of corporate sukuk, Muscat Daily reported Tuesday. Yahya bin Said Al Jabri, executive president of CMA, said CMA is preparing the ground for takaful and sukuk products and have sent teams to Malaysia and Bahrain to study how the markets for Islamic products work. “The launch of new products like sukuk will follow the launch of Islamic banking here. We are educating ourselves and preparing the necessary regulatory infrastructure to supervise these products.” Sukuk may be an ideal instrument for companies in Oman and would open a new source of financing. Companies have traditionally looked to bank financing in view of the lack of other finance operations. Ahmed Saleh Al Marhoon, director general of Muscat Securities Market (MSM), was quoted as saying that the initial CMA rules would allow listed firms to issue sukuk, which would later be extended to non
