SPDR Gold Trust (GLD)

[jt6455]

Gold Standard Approved for Islamic Finance, Opening New Market
by Claudia Carpenter
December 5, 2016 — 6:00 AM EST
December 5, 2016 — 8:03 AM EST
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-05/gold-standard-approved-for-islamic-finance-opening-new-market-iwbytkoj

"The rules approved Nov. 19 allow gold to be used in the $1.88 trillion Islamic finance business, the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions said Monday in a statement. The AAOIFI developed the standards with help from the producer-funded World Gold Council, which has said the new rules could spur demand for “hundreds of tons” of gold.

The SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion traded under stock symbol GLD, will probably qualify, and the standard may open new demand to central banks, Mohd Daud Bakar, a Shariah scholar, said at a press conference in Dubai Monday. Comex gold futures wouldn’t qualify because of a physical backing requirement, he said."