Standard & Poor's has launched a specialist index of stocks from the BRIC countries meeting Shariah criteria and targeted specifically at Muslim investors, the company said on Tuesday.
It said the S&P BRIC Shariah index would include the most liquid shares from Brazil, Russia, India and China, that already trade on developed market exchanges - Hong Kong, London and New York and NASDAQ.
To be eligible for the list, companies must already belong to the S&P/IFCI index for the BRICs and they will be screened for Shariah compliance based on financial, sectoral and financial ratios, S&P said.
Shariah bans the charging of interest, equating it with usury, and prohibits investment in businesses that deal in alcohol, pork, arms, gambling and pornography. S&P said its new index would exclude these businesses as well as financials and media.
The index will complement the Shariah-compliant versions of S&P's global indices such as the S&P 500, the S&P Europe 350 and the S&P Japan 500. All these Shariah-compliant indices are screened by Ratings Intelligence Partners, a Kuwait-based consultancy specialising in Islamic investment.
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