RHB Islamic Bank has joined the six-member consortium of Investment Account Platform (IAP) to become its first non-shareholder sponsoring bank.
With RHB Islamic signing a sponsoring bank agreement with IAP Integrated, the owner and operator of the Shariah compliant platform, the inclusion of the bank bodes well for attracting more ventures to list on the platform next year, according to Mohamed Izam Mohamed Yusof, CEO of IAP.
“IAP is expected to progress steadily over the next few years with more listing of assets, [and] new sponsoring banks, including foreign currency deals,” confirmed Izam.
The IAP, the brainchild of former central bank governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, was launched in 2016 to facilitate Islamic banks in assuming a greater role as an investment intermediator. Borrowing concepts from crowdfunding and peer-to-peer financing, the IAP facilitates intermediation by sponsoring banks in matching the financing requirements of ventures with investment from both retail and institutional investors.
Using the IAP marks the adoption of investment accounts as an asset class by RHB Islamic. Adissadikin Ali, CEO and managing director of the bank, revealed that with product development well underway, the bank is on track to offer investment account business to its customers next year.
To date since it was launched, RM92 million (US$21.44 million) has been raised over the IAP for five ventures.