Using Gam Sukuk to Finance Value Chain: Nature, Function and Shariah-Compliant Solutions

The Gam Sukuk is one of the newest innovations of the Iranian monetary and financial system in financing the real sector of the economy. This new financial instrument can boost the availability of working capital finance for Iranian firms. The Gam Sukuk provides the base for using the potentials of the private sector and capital market to finance the economic businesses.    The main question of the current research is: “What are the jurisprudential foundations and operational model of using Gam Sukuk based on the views of the Iranian Central Bank Shariah Board? Moreover, what are the other related solutions? The results obtained through an analytical-descriptive approach show that based on the Shariah Board Fatwa, the Daman (guarantee) contract can be used for issuing this kind of Sukuk. In this regard, banks will have two roles: issuing Sukuk and guaranteeing that, and can receive separate fees for these duties. Also, the Gam Sukuk can be issued based on two other Islamic contracts which are Sulh and Taweez. When these two contracts are used to justify Gam Sukuk, the bank's obligations appear as on-balance sheet items and hence the bank is considered a debtor. However, in the Daman (guarantee) contract the bank's obligations are off-balance sheet items and the bank is not viewed as a debtor. This is one of the merits of Gam model.