LONDON – S&P Indices announced Friday the launch of the S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index, which is designed to measure the performance of 50 leading Shariah-compliant companies from the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Index has been designed in partnership with the OIC. Companies from all 19 countries and territories whose exchanges are members of the OIC Exchanges and are covered by S&P Indices are eligible for the Index. These are: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index consists of the largest 50 stocks from the eligible universe. Stocks are selected in accordance with Shariah compliance screenings as determined by the S&P Shariah Indices Methodology. In addition, stocks must have a minimum three-month average daily value traded (ADVT) of $1 million at each rebalancing reference date. To enhance portfolio diversification, at least one stock but no more than eight, from each country or territory must be included in the Index. Alka Banerjee, Vice President, Global Equity and Strategy Indices from S&P Indices, said: "We are pleased to partner with the OIC to create this new benchmark for Islamic countries. Demand for Shariah-compliant investing solutions and interest in the equity markets of Islamic countries have increased over the past several years. The S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah is unique in that it encapsulates in one index the performance of Shariah-compliant stocks from Islamic countries located throughout the world." ?brahim M. Turhan, OIC Member States' Stock Exchanges Forum Chairman, and Chairman & CEO of the ?MKB, added: "I believe that the S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index will fill a principal gap, since, so far, there have been only a few measures to gauge the performance of Shariah-compliant companies. This new index is a product of the collective efforts of our colleagues in the OIC Member States' Stock Exchanges Forum and S&P Indices, and I would like to express my gratitude to my associates for their valuable contributions. Through the S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index, we hope to contribute to the ever-increasing interest for Shariah-compliant companies while adding to the visibility of the stock exchanges of OIC countries. The Index is also important in the sense that it will offer a benchmark for a variety of financial products such as ETFs and likewise." ?stanbul Menkul K?ymetler Borsas? (?MKB) is the coordinator of the OIC Member States' Stock Exchanges Forum. – SG
