Maybank tailor-fits shariah for mid-markets

Maybank Islamic launched a Shariah-compliant trade finance solution tailor-made for middle market and corporate customers involved with commodity-based products.

Named Collateral Management Arrangement-i or CMA-i, this product is a commodity-based financing arrangement that entails a tri-partite agreement between the Bank, customer and a collateral manager who controls and manages the commodities to be financed by the Bank. The arrangement is customised to finance the various stages of a commodity trade transaction cycle and is secured against the control / rights over the commodity by the Bank. The risk evaluation by the Bank would be more focused on the collateral valuation of the commodity instead of just the customer's financials and track record.

Financing available under CMA-i includes Islamic Trade Finance products such as Accepted Bills-i and Trust Receipts-i.

"We currently offer approximately 30 trade financing products and with this new product, we are targeting to see our Islamic trade finance volume grow by around 10 percent this year," said Executive Vice President of Maybank Islamic, Ibrahim Hassan.

Maybank Islamic has a market share of 38 percent in Islamic trade financing.

Ibrahim said the commodities that can be securitised and financed under this arrangement include steel, copper, aluminum, nickel, zinc, tin, crude oil, gasoline and others acceptable to the Bank.

CMA-i also covers commodities imported into the country. The commodities can either be in the form of raw materials, semi-finished products or finished products.