ETF Securities, the exchange traded commodities provider, has announced that its physically-backed precious metals platform is now shariah compliant. These ETCs are the first anywhere to be shariah compliant .

The compliance was sought in response to the rising global demand for ETCs, in particular from the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. The shariah compliant ETCs are currently traded on five exchanges in Europe and had a trading volume of $2 billion in July.

In a related move, the firm has appointed Sameer Meralli as head of sales for Middle East and North Africa. He worked most recently as an executive director of institutional sales at boutique asset manager Rubicon Sovereign.