Sharia-oriented financial structures in their current form have developed in the Persian Gulf region and partly in the countries of Southeast Asia. Within a short historical period, Islamic banks became a serious phenomenon, and the whole world was talking about Islamic capital. As a result, this capital has strengthened its position in a major region of the world, and Islamic banks have managed to contribute to a certain diversification of the global financial landscape. Islamic banks strive not only to compete with conventional banks, but also to replace them in the future. At the same time, in some cases, they have not yet fully developed their own territories and control at best from a quarter to half of them.
Key words: Sharia-oriented banks, market competition, capital interaction, credit institutions, Islamic assets, internationalization, global capital market, Islamic bonds.
THE ISLAMIC CAPITAL IN THE FIELD OF MARKET ACTIVITY
Since not so long ago the Sharia-compliantfinancial institutions have operated creatively in the Persian Gulf area and in a few Southeast Asian countries. During a quite short period of time they got the chance to become a serious phenomenon so making the world to talk about them. As a result they strengthened their positions not only in their part of the world but managed also to rather diversify the world financial landscape. The Islamic banks are going not only to compete with their conventional vis-a-vis, but to oust them sooner or later someday in the future. Meanwhile they themselves are still not ready to explore their own ground in a full range and now keep under their control no more than 25-60 percent of their land.
Keywords: the Sharia-compliant banks, market competition, interaction and cooperation of capital, credit institutions, Islamic assets, internationalization, world capital market, Islamic bonds.
Islamic capital, as the sum of values intended for making a profit in a non-trivial way, began to form half a century ago and has now become a fairly influential force capable of supplying significant financial resources for various economic and social projects.-
FILONIK Alexander Oskarovich-Candidate of Economic Sciences, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, fao44@mail.ru.
Aleksandr FILONIK - PhD (in Economics), Leading Research Fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS, Moscow, fao44@mail.ru.
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for a specific purpose. The nontriviality of the situation is that in Islam, assets belong to Allah, and a person has them as if in trust. It is his responsibility to use them to create new values, material foundations for growth, and turn the results to the benefit of the entire community, rather than engage in primitive hoarding.
The participation of Islamic capital in the creation of material values led to the emergence of the concept of Islamic economy, which is now mechanically fixed in the international economic lexicon, although it remains open in semantic terms. It originates in the Arab-Muslim economic tradition, which has developed its own method of managing the funds invested in a transaction and the practice of dividing income between participants in the production process in a form that allows you to fairly objectively determine the efforts and costs of each of them.
The corresponding terminology used to denote the actions of the owners of capital, land, and labor was a common practice that did not go beyond intra-farm relations. In their depths, stable terms have long appeared, which later became quite an acceptable shell for the tools that are understandable in the Arab environment and preserved intact, which are the basis for the financial activities of Islamic banking institutions in modern times. It was they who gave a second wind to the schemes and products born of Muslim legal and economic practice.
Apparently, two factors contributed to the current revival of the Islamic economy. On the one hand, the revival of well-known paraphernalia in the Arab world's economic space was spurred by the conquest of political independence and the growth of national consciousness. The new realities required tangible moral reinforcement in the form of serious steps that confirmed the new status and new quality of Arab identity. On the other hand, active industrialization, agrarian reforms, increasing the role of the state in managing economic assets, and social restructuring of the countryside significantly narrowed the area of traditional relations, but sharply increased the role of finance in the development of the economic environment as a whole.
At the same time, the sphere dominated by the historically established system of regulation of industrial relations, in particular in land use, also shrank. Over the centuries, the paraphernalia of this model was firmly established in the national memory and partially preserved in the life of peripheral regions during the decades that followed independence. Even the development of industrial and agricultural capitalism in the Arab world and the operation of market forces, which greatly influenced the structure of gross domestic product production in the changed reality, could not erase the prevailing ideas about the old way of life. They very quickly found life when favorable conditions contributed to this. Moreover, they have become an additional staple of economic activity. In the changed political and economic circumstances, the system of Islamic regulation has almost completely detached itself from the countryside and focused on the financial sector, where the sharply revived Islamic banking has persistently declared itself. During the transition period to capitalism and in the process of national Arab management reaching new frontiers, it began to claim a place of honor in the economy of Muslim countries. Its entry into the global arena was also facilitated by the dynamics of global trends generated by the unfolding globalization, the growing internationalization of production, the deepening of international competition, and the emergence of new forms of capital movement and interaction.
The expansion of the financial function is closely linked to the expansion of the Arab economy. They began to acquire a new status, which was created in the course of turning them into a popular object of entrepreneurship and was confirmed by their success.
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a rapidly growing role in ensuring reproduction processes in different segments of economic activity. It is in the field of financial services that Islamic methods of regulating relations between different economic entities have found the best application. They were adopted not only as providing banking and financial products that are complementary to the Arab reality. Their role was also notable for the fact that they strengthened their authority in the world. This fact is confirmed by the demand for them on the international market almost on a par with the capital circulating through conventional networks and through state channels.
With the expansion of oil production, the growth of financial power, the improvement of macroeconomic stability and the occupation of their own niches in the system of the world division of labor, Arab capital and, to a certain extent, its Islamic segment have come a long way in a short time and were able to move to prominent positions in world finance.
Initially, in the 1960s, Islamically oriented education was represented by small individual amateur projects in Egypt and Malaysia. As a result, they created the initial model of Islamic finance. It received official status in 1973 at the conference of Finance Ministers of Muslim countries. Already in 1975, the declaration on the establishment of the first Islamic Development Bank was adopted. In the next decade, the idea was further developed and new, more harmonious structures emerged, subordinating their economic life to the Islamic tradition. Pakistan and Iran have emerged as leaders in this area, and over the past few years they have implemented a plan to turn their financial systems into purely Islamic ones.
In a short period of time, these and other countries have made progress in increasing the physical size of Islamic capital. In fact, starting from scratch, by the new century they had assets that were estimated at $ 300 billion. and they tended to grow. This information was shared at the Islamic Banking and Finance Conference in Washington in 2002. It was pointed out that the funds may become even more solid in the near future, given the capital on accounts in conventional banks that were waiting for their turn to change their status. Further expansion of the scope of Islamic money (as a proof of the popularity of the entire enterprise) was assumed due to the appearance of "Islamic windows" in ordinary banks and the emergence of a large number of family financial companies of various levels, which were considered as a significant reserve for the growth of the attractiveness of Islamic practice. Both processes have developed, and a significant role has been played by large capitals of international credit institutions, which have been drawn into the successful march of Islamic banking. They were interested in finding their place in the new movement and further expanding their own capabilities, using the tools that participants in the Islamic financial market operate with.
In just two years, funds under the control of Islamic banks reached $ 500 billion and showed growth rates of 15-20% per year, depending on the region [Perrin, 2008, p. 54]. According to the Islamic Financial Services Bureau and other related institutions, in 2005, more than 300 financial institutions from 65 jurisdictions managed capital between $ 0.5 and $ 1 trillion (Toshihico, 2008, p. 29). Now there is reason to believe that the Islamic industry was able to make a rather attractive offer to a serious part of the global financial community, who saw it as an acceptable way to make a profit without resorting to the interest rate mechanism. Moreover, the real sector of the economy gained access to more diverse banking products, thereby increasing the maneuverability of assets, which most often increases the efficiency of the economy. In addition, according to some foreign analysts, Islamic banks promise to provide an additional element of stability to regional and global banks.
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finance through diversification of financial market participants. It is believed that during stressful periods, a market composed of multiple players and operating through a variety of tools has certain advantages over a homogeneous structure based on a limited set of products [Toshihico, 2008, p. 29].
Theoretically, this opinion seems quite reasonable, since a system that can flexibly respond to threats and extinguish decompensated situations in different directions clearly has a better chance of survival. However, this assumption is not always justified in practice. It is enough to mention the experience of the recent global financial crisis, in which such a pillar of the Arabian financial system as, for example, Dubai al-Alamiy, was able to survive mainly due to the maneuver of the huge savings of the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund, and not the coordinated actions of banking structures of various profiles. At the same time, one should take into account the fact that family financial institutions of an Islamic nature found themselves in a very difficult situation at that time. It turned out that the speculative component of the economy can exceed its productive part, and family companies made a significant contribution to this process, since their means of payment worked to increase their own savings and incomes, and not to create added value in production. Small institutions at their own level have introduced a significant element of disharmony into the financial system, and in a number of critical cases, they themselves have gone bankrupt due to loss of legal capacity. This, of course, complicated the situation, and they discredited themselves as market participants. The state has proved more resilient under external attacks. But he also did not have enough working capital to stop the unexpectedly revealed imbalances in the family business on money.
This situation is somewhat at odds with some statements that were made before the crisis unfolded and stated the increased stability of small Islamic banks and the relatively reduced stability of larger institutions of this kind [Ihak, 2008, p. 4]. Apparently, the point is that we were talking about the practice that preceded 2008, when the crisis broke out, and some of the negative realities of that period were not so fraught with severe consequences as to draw different conclusions from the current chronicle. It is obvious that, at least in this case, conclusions about the reliability of the Islamic system as a whole are somewhat premature, and it did not pass the test without image losses, revealing serious shortcomings in the nature of the functioning of institutions. Apparently, the situation in large-scale Islamic banking is still more appropriate to consider from the point of view that the current stage is a time of additional accumulation of factors of further evolution to a higher stage of maturity, since the process proceeds in line with a fairly rapid increase in the absolute weight of Islamic assets.
Analysts at Islamic banking fear that the rapid growth of this business may be short-term if the entire industry does not meet the expectations and growing demands of consumers. Such assumptions are fueled by the fact that this topic, although it is raised regularly in various forums, does not always cause a consistent response from the industry as a whole and its management level. Apparently, somewhere on the top floors of corporations, it is believed that the gross roll of Islamic capital is able to grind and expand the most bottlenecks, without resorting to costly campaigns to eliminate them.
Meanwhile, Islamic banks, while gaining strength, may be losing very real opportunities for developing their offensive. The paradox is that the attitude towards banks in Muslim society is far from unambiguous. The report of an authoritative consulting organization in Islamic financial circles notes that there are significant differences in the perception of modern banking practices based on Sharia principles [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014]. To make sure
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This year, more than half a thousand bank clients in the GCC countries were interviewed and asked to share their impressions of working with them. The prevailing view is that half of the banks under" censorship " do not reproduce Islamic values. Only 52% of people who participated in the survey agreed that the Islamic bank with which they maintain contacts is truly such and follows the established rules [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
Such a large discrepancy in the ratings looks almost defiant and so significant that it is hardly possible to talk about the subjectivism of the respondents. Apparently, in one way or another, banks really neglect the Islamic specifics or take a too formal approach to implementing the provisions that should be a direct guide to action for them. The survey does not provide a direct answer to why this particular situation has developed, and the client community is divided into two equal camps when describing the phenomenon. It is not entirely clear to what extent the requirements of the norms are violated and under the influence of what factors violations occur. Perhaps what matters is the practice of traditional banks, which can benefit from the speed of operations. It may be that the Islamic system is too cumbersome to implement, and the temptation to overcome formalities when competition is not abolished by anyone becomes so great and leads to such serious violations or omissions that there is a feeling that Islamic banks have lost their essence or, in any case, part of their image.
The report asserts the truth that unquestionable adherence to Sharia values remains the main commandment of Islamic banking, whose task is to be at the level of modern "strategies that ensure competitiveness, specificity, effectiveness and development." At the same time, the report cautiously asserts that customers of traditional banks may shift their focus to Islamic institutions if they see that the services they provide are at least as good as non-Islamic ones. In fact, one of the reasons for the lack of confidence in the activities of Islamic banks in accordance with the stated principles is that they simply imitate the work of ordinary banks [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
This is probably not a common practice, and a large part of banks operate in accordance with their nature. The main thing, apparently, is that even within their competence, they are far from being as successful in mastering the financial space as official reports may indicate. In the light of the above, it is understandable that there are concerns expressed in Islamic financial circles that bottlenecks and a tangible imbalance between the stated goals and their implementation in the banking sector can, if not undermine, then at least slow down the triumphant march of the Islamic economy, as it is interpreted at solemn events.
Such statements, however, do not prevent the most mobilized groups of banking managers from insisting that the remaining defects in the industry "can only be eliminated if sensible professionals come together and use their expertise and influence in the corporate world to initiate a dialogue within the system to create a model for future growth" [Al Adl, 2008, p. 1].
But this alone is not enough. It is necessary to overcome the shortage of specialists who are properly oriented in the labyrinths of the Sharia economic and legal system, and eliminate shortcomings in the professional training of clerks. Attracting Muslim public opinion to the topic, in turn, can cause a corresponding resonance and increase the number of supporters of the idea of improving the efficiency of bank capital. Without resolving the situation, Islamic financial institutions will hardly be able to fully compete with conventional ones, especially in the short term. Moreover, the alignment of positions can not occur in leaps and bounds, since inertia is high, it requires consistent work and at the same time-
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It is necessary to make significant and very costly efforts in various areas, including improving the internal organization and structure, and developing such highly specific concepts as risk management, accounting, investment activities, asset and securities insurance organizations, without which it is impossible to lay a full-fledged and understandable basis for relations within the institute for the client base.
Just listing the key issues for the industry gives an idea of the true state of banking mechanisms within the industry and how it is with the regulation of interaction between different actors in the depths of Islamic financial structures. In these circumstances, the complex system of Islamic banking products remains a thing in itself in a number of ways, and in its full form is hardly well known to everyone, even in the countries of Islam, not to mention those where Islamic practice has not become widespread [Al Adl, 2008, p. 1].
Nevertheless, Arab financiers, mainly Arab ones, are very optimistic about the process of consolidating Sharia norms in regional and global economic practice. They are not bothered by the fact that practical work on improving the mechanisms of Islamic finance is sluggish. In any case, local periodicals and more fundamental publications do not leave this topic for years. On the contrary, they are convinced that the state of affairs in the industry unequivocally demonstrates the high competitiveness of at least Dubai and Abu Dhabi and their indisputable contribution to the development of the Islamic economic system as such. At the same time, there is a rivalry between these two pillars of the Islamic financial industry, in which Dubai succeeds, progressing at a high pace due to large-scale capital operations in the investment field, estimated at $ 8 trillion [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
Against this background, it is widely believed that the Islamic banking sector has a great future ahead of it. Indeed, there is increased activity within the industry, especially in the recent period. So, in 2008, the funds concentrated in it were estimated at $ 600 billion. In 2010 they amounted to 800 billion, in 2012 - 850 billion, and in 2013 - 1.8 trillion dollars. By 2020, it is assumed that the total assets may significantly exceed 3 trillion dollars; about the same amount, the largest issuers, including the IMF, can increase the circulation of Islamic bonds. Such a rapid increase in efforts really makes us think that Islamic capital has a high degree of mobility and can achieve impressive results [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
There are some other quantitative estimates of the growth of Muslim assets. Although they differ in one way or another, they are generally in line with the upward trend, the parameters of which are probably most accurately outlined at the 10th session of the World Forum of Islamic Economics in October 2014 in Dubai, where the above numerical indicators were announced.
The results achieved in the development of the Islamic model allow adherents to compare it with the conventional economy and believe that, despite the differences in nature, these two types of management complement each other, but in no case compete with each other. Nevertheless, the emerging developments have allowed the leadership of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry to declare that "the Islamic economy is an outstanding alternative to a successful and sustainable economy" and "based on a combination of factors, it confirms the correctness of the conclusion that it will become the basis of business in the future" [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
This statement is supported by current statistics, according to which the GDP of the Islamic economy exceeds $ 8 trillion, despite the fact that it covers 1.6 billion Muslims and exceeds the rate of population growth in the world. Meanwhile, information circulating in various Arabic sources can sometimes cause serious problems.
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certain doubts about certain statements. In particular, in this case, the gross product is hardly produced within the framework of the Islamic economy for at least two reasons. First, the "Islamic economy" itself cannot yet be considered a fully-fledged established phenomenon, on which a general agreement has been reached. Secondly, if we are referring to almost the entire Muslim world, then it is obvious that we are talking about an economy that operates within this world, and nothing more.
Within the framework of the economic course of countries with a sufficient Islamic sector in the national economic system, a wide range of actions is planned for the coming period. This includes joint participation in the construction of large cost-intensive projects that are essential for regional development, encouraging innovations and their own activities in the innovation field in the interests of development, implementing a policy of open business opportunities, and creating conditions for further expansion of innovative programs. Among them, much attention is paid to the "green" aspects of development in the field of applying the highest technologies that allow growing green mass crops on a scale that is not consistent with the arid climate. This suggests a certain correlation between Arab actions and those that in Europe should lead to the creation of a single, consolidated in all respects market-based economic organism by 2020, one of the elements of which will be resource-efficient and green production activities. In fact, this is a condition for a sustainable economy, and the Arab economy, its Arabian segment in particular, is clearly guided by the European model in an effort to turn it into a fundamental pillar of development.
In a series of measures, the development of conditions for the introduction of the "halal" economy is highlighted in a certain way, the task of which is to ensure food security in the Sharia sense of the term and take care of the health of all members of the Muslim Ummah [Al-Emarat al-yaum, 26.10.2014].
"Halal" is a really serious aspect of the transformation of Dubai into a leading "authority", which will fill this term with modern content in the sense that it will not just be tracking the correctness of the implementation of a set of traditional rules. We are talking about the emergence of a whole trade industry, which should take a place equal to other economically important industries in the emirate. In other words, it will be an institutionalized historical tradition, materialized in the form of "a global trade network organized in accordance with Sharia principles, counting on supporters in the region and the world" [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
Even without this projection for the future, real achievements in the economy and social sphere are already creating a serious material reserve in the form of many large and medium-sized commercial enterprises, cultural institutions, recreational and tourist zones, opening up prospects that were not previously considered in practice. Arab monarchies have saturated their domestic markets and built infrastructure that in some segments far exceeds the demand for its facilities. It is not fully loaded, and national interests require its full inclusion in the economic turnover. It can be used productively only by becoming a springboard and the main element of commercial ties that should permeate the Indian Ocean basin and close on the Persian Gulf. Therefore, a natural opportunity to master the created reserve is now seen in the large-scale development of intercontinental trade, which in the relatively recent past was not a strong point of the Gulf monarchies. Now they expect to become a colossal regional trade hub, organizing the entire process of commercial exchange in vast territories, giving it an Islamic appearance. Playing on this field, they get the opportunity to widely advertise their project Islam-
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The economic system is presented as a natural means of creating justice for all. It is not for nothing that statesmen of the Islamic world emphasize at major forums that their countries have 70% of the world's hydrocarbon sources and 40% of mineral reserves, but their participation in world trade turnover barely exceeds 11%. In the Islamic world, this is considered a violation of the balance and a manifestation of injustice that persists within the given framework of the international division of labor system.
Hence the acute need for "comprehensive development to achieve stability and economic growth, as well as for cooperation and increased interaction between States, especially Muslim ones, given their problems with unemployment, poverty and poor ecology" [Al-Emarat al-yaum, 26.10.2014]. Within the framework of these imperatives, the idea of stimulating trade relations and industrial activity is formulated by the efforts of all Muslim countries in order to expand the growth base and at the same time target the mobilization of funds from economic activities and the sale of minerals for the benefit of the poor, which increases the efficiency of using sources of growth.
This is one of the main statements of the Islamic Development Bank and other large structures of this kind. They should draw attention to the pressing problems of the Islamic world and consolidate Islamic savings and other opportunities for public benefit. In fact, for the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, this topic is not as relevant as for their counterparts from other parts of Islamic Asia. But even they, fulfilling their "international" duty and for their own benefit, agree that it is necessary to create an extensive infrastructure and develop investment and other types of activities. And not only to strengthen the Islamic presence in the outside world, but also to further concentrate capital precisely in Sharia structures by arousing the interest of new potential depositors, borrowers, agents, etc. of subjects in their own countries. Moreover, Asian government agencies and private entities are looking for funding channels for projects worth a total of $ 10 trillion. in their countries, to the assistance and mediation of the Arabian partners [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
The Boao Forum for Asia's Financial Cooperation Congress, which was held in Dubai in 2014 for a reason, was another way to strengthen the emirate's position as a financial center of the global order and a symbol of its developing relations with China. In parentheses, you can indicate that the forum was named after the town of Boao in Hainan Province, which has been the headquarters of the annual congress since 2002. Holding such a serious meeting in the emirate for the first time with the participation of leading Chinese officials is a clear recognition of his achievements in promoting the merger of regional Asian markets and strengthening trade ties with Middle Eastern partners.
As a result, the event has helped Dubai reassert its importance as a world-class financial center and securities issuer, and become a window of sorts for China to enter the region's most important markets. Although the latter does not have its own Islamic banks, it is clearly recognized as a powerful stimulator that can help mobilize investment in projects aimed at turning the entire Asian infrastructure into a single organic whole with the indispensable participation of the Arabian monarchies.
The state of affairs in this area is a matter of particular interest to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which estimates the value of the above amount at $ 10 trillion. The other side of the matter is to identify possible pricing mechanisms in oil transactions that can be used when switching to their payment in Asian currencies, in order to avoid dollar control over pricing policy in a strategically important market.
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In other words, Dubai gains a far from ephemeral opportunity to concentrate solid economic and political capital in its hands, if the idea of turning it into a center of trade and financial relations, which are persistently developing with the countries of East and South-East Asia, with the Middle East, African and European markets, is realized. This would be an extremely favorable situation for the entire Islamic economic bloc and its institutions, in which Dubai and its Gulf counterparts play an increasing role, along with Malaysia, Pakistan and some other countries. Moreover, the issues of financial cooperation in the implementation of compensation partnership projects are also being considered in other countries where financial services are provided exactly according to Islamic schemes.
Interest in the topic from the Arab side is also shown due to the fact that projects to merge the national infrastructure of Asian markets are carried out by individual efforts of specific countries, which distinguishes them into a separate cluster against the background of globalization, which has engulfed the modern market space and is ready to absorb any integrist phenomenon, if it is not a large-scale project. The expectation is that the merger of projects in one stream, where the role of Dubai and the UAE as a whole is clearly visible, will not only increase the potential of Asian states in the context of internationalization of inter-economic relations. An appropriate balance in the accumulation and distribution of capital and assets between them will also be ensured, while additional reserves will be opened up for the confident development of other GCC members in the course of the infrastructure transformation of a huge region.
Dubai itself is likely to be the main beneficiary of the strategic project due to its links with Chinese capital, which has associated four of its largest banks with the Dubai al-Alamiy financial center. Together, they are quite capable of supporting China's policy of rapprochement with growing markets. And he is ready to discuss " the rich opportunities that can be very useful for all parties, and further strengthen ties between the UAE and China itself." At the same time, Dubai has every chance to see itself in the center of a productive triangle made up of "rising economies of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, promising African economies and developed industrial systems of Europe" [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
Today, Dubai's intentions seem to be fully realized and justified not only by its current achievements and demonstrated financial stability, but also by the future that the emirate expects. The Emirates are generally interested in seeing Islamic capital occupy its own niche, the presence of which would emphasize, if not its special status, then at least its influence in regional affairs. In any case, the belief is constantly being advertised that the" Islamic economy " will continue to de facto develop in the global capital market and take its rightful place in the highly competitive segment. This belief is reinforced by references to an accelerated economic growth rate supported by $ 8 trillion. investments uploaded to its sectors over the last period [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014]. At the same time, the general opinion of the industry management is determined by the fact that the UAE is already leading the process of spreading the "Islamic economy" in the world, and Dubai is a generator of ideas and a motor of practical actions that enrich the Islamic economic experience and strengthen confidence in it at the global level.
The key to success in this field is seen in the expansion of the sphere of Islamic financial services, in the growth of purchasing power, in the scale of educational activities and in the improvement of the situation on the labor market. To a lesser extent, the effect is achieved through the formation of institutions such as insurance and investment funds for real estate operations, which have become popular due to state participation and financing of infrastructure and the needs of the public and private sectors. The development of creative products and tools is also of great importance.-
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the future of the Islamic financial market, and the improvement of the legal framework governing Islamic finance.
The optimism inherent in the Arabs as a people, and in this particular case in the management and management of the banking industry, allows them to see the big things even in small things and believe that implementation initiatives, combined with the Islamic money business that has already proven the effectiveness of its tools, have practically created a type of economy with increased stability. Such tactics can contain moderate-intensity economic threats and have a margin of safety in the face of global challenges.
But at the same time, despite the prevailing laudatory tone in the foreign environment when describing the capabilities of the "Islamic economy", there is also a more moderate view of the situation. The current manager of Dubai al-Alamiy and Secretary General of the Dubai Center for the Development of the "Islamic economy", for example, admits that the system is still "undergoing a period of formation and acts only as a kind of outgrowth that complements the traditional economy", but at the same time it operates in conditions of " increased security, thanks to reliance on schemes that reduce the degree of risk"[Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014]. The roots of this security lie in the very nature of Islamic capital, which is protected by proven methods in the form of an in-depth study of the performance mechanisms of the proposed objects, the effectiveness of investment planning, the concentration of resources in place and time, and other measures that eliminate or mitigate the impact of economic turmoil.
In general, Arab financiers should be given credit for how skilfully they "rode" the initiative that emerged at one time (as an insignificant matter for provincial Muslim figures) and in a short time turned it into a broad practice that digests the flows of the resulting petrodollars into Islamic holdings.
Recent developments indicate that Dubai will continue to develop significant efforts to promote and directly promote Islamic tools and products. The process of their popularization is constantly supported, and this is especially true for the use of Islamic sukuk bonds as a form of investment, which is enjoying growing appeal not only in the East, but also in the West. There is evidence that three-quarters of Islamic banking capital is invested in financing projects and businesses of legal entities and individuals, which heats up the demand for them in different strata of the Ummah. Sukuk bonds are attractive because they do not involve paying interest, but rather sharing responsibility in appropriate proportions between the participants in the transaction and securing income in a form that meets the expectations of the parties. Interest in operating such schemes has increased markedly since the global financial crisis, when Islamic financial institutions showed greater resilience, although they did not avoid losses.
According to data published in the Arab press, by the end of 2014, the total volume of Islamic bond issues should amount to $ 70 billion. That is, the issue increased by 12% compared to 2013, when it amounted to $ 62 billion [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014]. This indicates that they have their own market, which is ready to develop funds supplied through sukuk channels. In addition to the economic significance of the project, this marks the further institutional consolidation of Islamic instruments in the international capital market, and the expansion of cooperation between banking structures in the East. Equally, this movement can be interpreted as a deepening of business relations with the Western world. In principle, this is nothing more than a manifestation of the tendency to merge the interests of various institutions, united by a common idea of maximizing influence in the era of globalization.
It is no coincidence that, despite significant reservations, the idea is increasingly being reproduced that global money flows of Islamic origin are becoming more widespread.
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they have the necessary maturity and as such are quite capable of being the financial basis of Islamic projects, regardless of their territorial location or purpose (for example, international tourism or the halal industry). and create conditions for their promotion in the vast expanses of the world, thus performing the same work as ordinary banks. Against this background, Dubai is strengthening its leadership in the world of Islamic finance in every possible way by using an explicit order in the sense that it literally "pumps" its financial arteries with foreign exchange resources. In 2013 alone, the total assets of its Islamic financial institutions reached $ 95 billion, compared to $ 83 billion in 2012 [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014]. It should be taken into account that the Emirate is not the only one, but only one of the most important centers of Islamic banking in the Persian Gulf, where other financially wealthy Arabian monarchies compete with it for the title of leader, and not only them. Not without reason, if we consider the issue from the point of view of the sukuk category, then, according to the version of the Islamic economy figure quoted above, the emirate ranks third in the world hierarchy of issuers of Islamic bonds. It was pushed aside by Hong Kong, which held an initial placement of its Islamic bonds on the Dubai Stock Exchange in the amount of $ 1 billion, ahead of that by a quarter of a billion [Al-Bayan, 29.10.2014].
However, the point is not in the rating, but in the role that Islamic capitals play, and in the speed with which they form the base of their influence. As the industry has consolidated and links within it have become more complex, and as demand for Islamic products has grown from government agencies, private business and financial communities, regulators, and other consumers, new elements of the industry have emerged. For example, such significant ones as Takaful Emirate, which recently opened a powerful investment fund, which became a significant event and a threshold for the appearance of other similar structures that compact the space for the Islamic financial system.
As a result, the Islamic financial system currently appears in two images. On the one hand, it opposes itself to the old, conventional way of working with capital. And this is a very original moment that has emerged in the recent history of the financial industry. On the other hand, acting in an already established coordinate system, it produces new messages within itself. By implementing them, it is easier to modernize its structure and thereby mobilize appropriate capital resources to promote the business initiative along Islamic lines, unite markets in regional networks and accelerate integration processes in the most favorable environment and around powerful strategic projects of industrial, infrastructure and environmental significance.
list of literature
Al-Bayan. 29.10.2014.
Al - Imarat al-yaum. 26.10.2014.
Al Adl M. Editorial // Business Islamica. April 2008. P. 1.
Fukui T. Islamic Finance Goes Forward in Japan // Business Islamica. April 2008. P. 28-30.
Ihak M. Chalked out. Box // Business Islamica. April 2008. P. 4.
Perrin F. Sharia. Compliant Investing // Business Islamica. April 2008. P. 52-56.
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Russia-2
Belarus-2