Financial Risk of Sukuk Investments

Abstract

Sukuk form the basis for the development of the Islamic capital market. These instruments are also increasingly used in the financial markets outside the Muslim world. Sukuk lack an equivalent among traditional financial instruments. They may exhibit the characteristics of both debt and equity instruments. Sukuk, as a new category of financial assets, require a closer study and understanding of the nature of their functioning. The work aims at indicating areas creating financial risk of sukuk investments. The determination of the elements of the sukuk construction and the presentation of sukuk trading rules helped learn the sources of market, credit and trading liquidity risk related with these instruments. The work adopts a hypothesis: The most important source of financial risk in sukuk investments is credit risk. Research was conducted using critical analysis of Polish and English books, scientific articles and reports of Islamic financial market institutions. The results of the research conducted helps confirm the adopted hypothesis. The materiality and growing significance of credit risk in investments in the sukuk market where determined. The primary source of that risk is the complicated nature of the sukuk construction, creating problems with an adequate assessment of risks related with the financed project and the manner of securing the interests of investors in the case of bankruptcy of the sukuk issuer.