Mastering sharia

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association and the International Islamic Financial Market published the long-awaited Islamic master agreement in March after more than three years of negotiations. Market participants welcome the document, but say a great deal of work remains to be done to ensure it is widely used. Joel Clark reports

Drawing up a standard document for Islamic derivatives has proven to be fiendishly complicated, not to mention time-consuming. After 24 drafts and consultation spanning more than three years, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) finally published the tahawwut (hedging) master agreement on March 1. But despite the work that has already gone into the document, more will need to be done to ensure its provisions can be legally