Muscat: In keeping with their approach of community partnership, the Capital Market Authority (CMA), shared the Draft Sukuk (Sharia Law compliant financial bonds) and Bonds Regulation on their website and invited inputs and comments from all public joint-stock companies, audit firms, law firms, investors, academicians, interested persons, and the general public.

The draft regulation came as a response to the rapid legislative developments in the capital market since the issuance of the Commercial Companies Law in 2019 and the Regulation for Public Joint Stock Companies early this year. These laws and regulations were designed to enhance the readiness of the legislating regime to cope with the global economic developments and changes, further to standardisation of the rules of Sukuk and bonds markets, in order to improve the efficiency of such debt instruments towards the betterment of the national economy. This will also contribute to the creation of an appropriate credit environment to finance the development projects of the government and the private sector. 

The draft regulation aims to regulate the issuance of bonds and Sukuk by adding a set of detailed clauses prepared by a specialized work team constituted by the CMA for more resilience to ease the processes of issuance of bonds and Sukuk as financing instruments.