The Central Bank of Russia has approved the country’s first participation finance standard. Participation finance, which covers interest-free financing, installment sales, financial leasing and partnership-based models, forms the foundation of the country’s Islamic banking pilot.
The pilot is being conducted in Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chechnya and Dagestan. Transaction volumes under the program have reached tens of billions of rubles, while the pilot is planned to continue until September 1, 2028.
Under the new regulation on participation finance, standards for sukuk and other financing instruments are planned to be prepared by September.