Islamic financial website ihilal.com announced on January 8, that it has signed agreements with Dow Jones and Online Brokerage Solutions, Inc. to launch Sharia-compliant online stock trading services before the end of the first quarter 2001.
The iHilal stock trading service will enable Internet trading of Sharia-compliant U.S. and Canadian equities, as well as shares of Sharia-compliant foreign companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The service does not permit non-Islamic transactions, including options trading, and does not permit interest-based transactions such as margin trading and short selling.
The solution combines the capabilities of three financial providers, namely Dow Jones & Company—the world's leading stock market index provider, Online Brokerage Solutions—a U.S.-based provider of Internet brokerage services, and ihilal.com—an Islamic financial website founded by the Rasmala Private Equity Group and Accenture Technology Ventures (previously known as Andersen Consulting (AC) Ventures).
Trading will be supported by a number of value-added financial services, including an Islamic stock filter which is based on the components of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIMI). The Islamic filter will restrict investments to stocks that are Sharia-compliant; the index will be updated quarterly, adding or dropping stocks in order to remain consistent with the Dow Jones Islamic stock screening methodology.
The service will be launched before the end of the first quarter, and iHilal plans to initially target the more than 200 million Muslims who live in North America, Europe and the Middle East; the company will gradually expand the service to include a global audience.
Dow Jones & Company publishes The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, Barron's and SmartMoney magazines and other periodicals, Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones Indexes, and the Ottaway group of community newspapers.
Stockwalk Group, Inc. is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the parent company of MJK Holdings, Inc., which owns the full service brokerage firm of Miller Johnson Steichen Kinnard, Inc. (MJSK), as well as Stockwalk.com, Inc., an online trading company (AOL keyword: Stockwalk) and Online Brokerage Solutions, Inc., which privately labels online trading sites for third parties. MJSK is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and the Chicago Stock Exchange.
ihilal.com is an Islamic financial website that will be launched by the end of the first quarter 2001. The site will build a web-based platform that allows investors to buy and sell Islamic financial products directly through the Internet. The company's founding was lead by the Rasmala Private Equity Group (a Dubai-based investment consortium which includes a number of prominent private Muslim investors, the Saudi American Bank and Deutsche Bank) and Accenture Technology Ventures (previously known as Andersen Consulting (AC) Ventures. — (Albawaba-MEBG)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
