Islamic finance is an unfamiliar concept to the Koreans. It can be measured, however, that the Islamic peoples are about 1,6 billion, that share one quarter of the world population, and the demand of Islamic finance is viewed to increase continuously ...
Islamic finance is an unfamiliar concept to the Koreans. It can be measured, however, that the Islamic peoples are about 1,6 billion, that share one quarter of the world population, and the demand of Islamic finance is viewed to increase continuously in future. Like Korea, which is highly dependent on the international trade, and has opened the capital market toward the foreign investors, it should prepare for the Islamic finance that is growing at the highest speed.
What strikingly differentiates Islamic finance from conventional one is the fact that Islamic finance has its roots firmly in Sharia, i.e. Islamic law. Unlike conventional finance that is bound primarily by the marketplace, Islamic finance finds its legitimacy and guidance from Sharia. The objectives of Sharia pertain to not only this world but include the hereafter. As such, Sharia safeguards human beings' "faith, life, intellect, posterity, and wealth" which encompass the welfare of the people in this world and in the afterlife, with the welfare dispensed with "complete justice, mercy, well-being, and wisdom. Hence, while the aim of conventional finance is to maximize wealth for one's gratification in this world to the exclusion of any consideration of morality and social justice, and exploitation-free Islamic finance which based on Sharia, on the other hand, seeks to balance one's pursuit of obtaining wealth with religious, moral and ethical considerations.
In recent years, while the credit rating of Korea by the international rating agencies grows up, the rating of Korea appears to be the inverse phenomenon against that of Japan. Accordingly, it is possible to invite foreign capital at lower rate. But as the raising window of overseas funds is limited primarily to U.S., Europe, and Japan, it deeply depends on the particular nations and areas and urgently needs the diversification of foreign capital nations. Accomplishing the objective for the Korea Government to pursue "the establishment of the Asian Finance Hub," it needs to introduce the overseas funds from the Islamic nations of Asia, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan.
In relation to this problem there are some considerations to be evaluated when Islamic finance is introduced into Korea. First, it regards with the form of introducing the Islamic finance system. Thinking about the points that few Islamic people are living in Korea, it should be better to make available the complementary system that necessary products of Islamic finance, based on the conventional finance system, be complemented and introduced, rather than the introduction of single system of Islamic finance or dual system. Second, as the loans of Islamic banks are traded, linking with the real assets, the problems arise whether these trading or lease of assets be allowed in the Korean banking act. In other word, the authoritative interpretation should be necessary to judge whether to take the bank's asset without report is allowed to be incidental activities. Third, there happen the problems relating the equilibrium of tax. When the Korean company issues sukuk on underwriting real assets, alien sukuk investor will be additionally charged with heavy tax. However, because the acquisition or sale of assets does not bring about the change of de facto ownership in Islamic finance, it seems to me that it is reasonable to exempt them from acquisition tax, transfer income tax, and value-added tax. Lastly, problems are proposed to see whether the Islamic claims are considered as securities on the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (referred as to the Capital Markets Act). First of all, what sukuk has an object to get profit, and is expired, and acquires the right to distribute returns from underwriting assets, and further is considered as investment value, pertains to financial investment products in the Capital Markets Act. On other hand, if the types of sukuk are classified, debt sukuk is debt security in the point of expressing the claim to pay an amount of money, and in the case of murabaha sukuk or musharaka sukuk it seemingly pertains to equity security in the respect that an entrepreneur and sukuk holder invest together and organize an association. Furthermore there exists argument which sukuk pertains to collective investment on the Capital Markets Act. It is thought that it is necessary to exclude the sukuk at the definition of collective investment in order to prevent unnecessary confusion.
In Korea, Islamic finance stands at the beginning step. Understanding about the growing Islamic finance with the increase of muslim population though on a small scale still, should be reconsidered. The introduction of Islamic finance is a problem of how it will be viewed to evaluate the materiality of trade rather than the problem regarding to the Islamic religion, and a problem concentrated on how it will be adjusted to differentiate the conventional finance from the point of substantial trade.