Bloomberg to launch Islamic product

Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson of the Financial Times writes for Monday’s paper about plans by Bloomberg News to launch an Islamic finance product.

Edgecliffe-Johnson writes, “The service, available on more than 300,000 Bloom­berg Professional terminals, includes news and data covering more than 1,500 Islamic bond issues, 35,000 stocks and 500 funds, as well as a database of sharia scholars and their fatwa endorsements.

“‘We see significant opportunity,’ said Dan Doctoroff, Bloomberg president. ‘This is a reflection of our belief in the future of the market and the region.’

“Bloomberg cancelled a planned launch event in Manama after violence broke out in the Bahrain capital. Mr Doctoroff will instead unveil the platform in Kuala Lumpur, alongside a Malaysian ringgit sukuk index developed with the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM).

“Citing figures from the 2010 Global Islamic Finance Report and a forecast from the Malaysian central bank, he said the market was expected to expand from $1,300bn in 2009 to $2,000bn in three to five years.”

Read more here.