Which and how many Italian companies meet the investment criteria of Islamic finance? A working group of AIAF, the Italian association of analysts, examined a representative sample of companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in the light of the parameters envisaged by the Sharia which do not include interest (saver and creditor participate in business risk by sharing profits and losses) and cover a number of other moral, ethical and governance concepts.
Research is the basis of the conference “Foreign Investments in Italy: Opportunities for Islamic Investments”, scheduled next 18 October a Roma at the headquarters of the Order of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts (piazza delle Belle Arti 2, starting at 15 pm).
Among the Sharia compliant Italian companies – that is, respectful of certain criteria dictated by Islamic religious beliefs – companies such as Tod's and Landi Renzo stand out (case history presented during the conference) which boast a significant presence in Muslim countries guaranteeing an important plus for own business. “For a listed Italian company – explains Paolo Balice, President of AIAF – being included in an Islamic index can represent both a possibility of accessing a broad market such as the Middle East and an opening towards a different culture, as well as an opportunity for observant investors interested in investing in Italy".
For this reason, the conference has a concrete objective: to bring out the advantages that Italian companies could reap by looking at Islamic finance as a valid alternative to conventional financing, made possible, among other things, also by the consolidated attractiveness of Made in Italy in those areas.
The following will talk about it: some authors of the Aiaf research, Enrico Giustiniani, Daniele Cappellini and Tatiana Eifrig; Gianfranco Di Vaio, senior economist of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti; Luca Filippa (managing director of the Southern Europe Ftse group); Carlo De Simone (Head of Desk Italy of Simest). In a second session, Paolo Giachetto of ABI will talk about investment opportunities in Italian companies. He will close the Landi Renzo experience told by the investor relator Pierpaolo Marziali.
Islamic finance is a perfectly legal way of doing finance, widespread especially in countries where the Muslim religion is prevalent, where it is not possible to use interest, which is prohibited by Islam. In fact, the saver and the creditor participate in the business risk by sharing profits and losses with the credit institutions.
Islamic finance is the result of a series of restrictive but certainly not binding moral, ethical and governance concepts for the purposes of banking which remains, in forms and instruments, entirely the same as the traditional one. The fundamental difference is that, in addition to the laws and regulations in the countries in which they operate, the principles of Sharia are absolutely essential and indispensable for an Islamic bank.
