Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ is a trading platform of commodities. It facilitates Islamic liquidity management and the financing done by the Islamic banks. It is a fully electronic program and is web based. It provides the industry players an avenue so that they can indulge in multi-commodity and multi-currency trade all around the globe. BURSA Malaysia Bhd has announced that it’s new trading platform Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ will improve the present trading value in the internal Islamic market. Chief executive officer of Bursa Suq, Datuk Seri Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said that the total value of trade in the total Malaysian market is almost a few billion ringgit per day. He also told that currently Bursa Suq accounts for only a small percentage of this total trade value. He also hopes that they will soon be able account for a higher percentage with their new platform and he thinks the demand is already present.
Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ was previously known as Commodity Murabah House. Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ provides for Islamic financing which is commodity-based. It also facilitates transactions of investments which are based on the Syariah principles of Murabahah, Tawarruq and Musaw-wamah. Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ is an initiative by Malaysia International Islamic Finance Centre.
The new trading platform was launched by Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. It is operated by Bursa Malaysia, through its fully owned subsidiary Bursa Islamic Services Sdn Bhd which completely complies with the principles of the Syariah. Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz stood witness to the launch of the new trading platform. Bank Negara Malaysia is the central bank of Malaysia. It has its headquarters at Kuala Lumpur.
Datuk Seri Yusli Mohamed Yusoff , the chief executive officer informed that the first commodity that was to be traded via the new trading platform in Malaysia is crude palm oil. Transactions worth RM200 million were made on the first day only. Yusli Mohamed also said that the majority of the transaction was made by the CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd. The CIMB group is the second largest provider of financial services in Malaysia. It ranks fifth in the whole of south-east Asia.
Under the concept of Bursa Suq Al-Sila the bank purchases the commodity directly from the supplier for example; the supplier of crude palm oil, this purchase is made at the principal amount. Then the bank sells it to the customer for a profit. The customer then earns cash by selling the commodity at the spot market. Yusli Mohamed also said that Bursa Malaysia will soon introduce trading of ‘hard’ commodities. These hard commodities include manufacturing products such as electronic devices and automobiles, etc. Bursa Malaysia is also working towards introducing multi-currency trading; this will enable the traders to make international transactions also. Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, CIMB Islamic chief executive officer said that in commodity mudarabah the CIMB has reported a monthly transaction of RM3 billion on an average. He also said that this indicates that there is a lot of potential of growth in the market.