The world’s largest interdealer broker is making its presence felt in the Islamic finance world through its subsidiary Tullett Prebon which has entered the Islamic fintech vertical of trading and investment with its new Shariah compliant platform.
Tullett Prebon, which generated a pre-tax profit of GBP159 million (US$218.5 million) after reporting revenues of almost GBP1 billion (US$1.36 billion) for the January-June 2020 period, is a wholesale financial market intermediary with a market capitalization of approximately US$1.8 billion. After acquiring former competitor ICAP in 2016 for US$1.6 billion, it became part of the ICAP Group, and now has businesses across 24 countries including Bahrain and the UAE.
Its entry into the Islamic finance space predates this new platform, Fusion Islamic Finance: in 2008, it established an Islamic finance desk in Singapore to develop liquidity in the Shariah compliant secondary market.
While its foray into Shariah finance over a decade ago has been relatively quiet, it is clear that Tullett Prebon is expecting to generate more noise this time around with its new platform. Fusion Islamic Finance, a commodity Murabahah trading platform, enables clients to purchase assets and capitalize on the growth potential of Sukuk, the Halal sector and infrastructure.
“The platform permits our second counterparty, a non-affiliated independently-owned and managed trading company, with over 20 years of experience operating within the Islamic financial marketplace, to be fully integrated within our system. This enables clients to process transactions on Fusion swiftly, saving both time and money while significantly enhancing their experience,” explained Tullett Prebon. The platform utilizes connectivity for integration, straight-through processing, and single-screen access allowing access to large pools of liquidity. Customers can also connect from third-party data platforms, such as Reuters or Bloomberg.
Headquartered in London, IFN (the sister publication of IFN Fintech) learned that the team will be working closely with colleagues in Bahrain, Dubai, Jakarta and Singapore, and could be looking to further growth opportunities. The initial focus will be on interbank relationships, where the firm already has a strong footing.
Tullett Prebon is entering a space long dominated by well established names including Eiger Trading, DDCap Group, Bursa Suq Al Sila and Able Ace but the firm is confident in its market capabilities.
“We are very excited to be entering the large and rapidly growing market of Islamic finance. We have ambitious plans for this market, and we are confident that we can leverage our position as the world’s largest interdealer broker, with an unrivalled ability to access liquidity, to provide our clients with a compelling proposition,” shared Paul Dunkley, the senior managing director of Tullett Prebon.