With the global Sukuk market reaching new heights this year, it is interesting to note that corporate issuers have finally stepped up to the plate to create more diversified offerings for investors. Nonetheless, sovereign Sukuk remains in the limelight: due to the typically larger sizes of issuances from governments, strong investor appetite for government names, and also as government Sukuk often paves the way for the development of Islamic finance in their respective countries.
Given this soft spot for sovereign Sukuk, our cover story this week looks at the role these Islamic bonds play pushing for wider acceptance of Islamic finance, beyond its use as a tool for public funding.
However even as the Sukuk market continues to dominate our industry, Shariah compliant syndicated financing has also played a growing role in fundraising; especially as corporates become more international in nature.
In view of this, our issue this week also sees Suhaimi Zainul, a partner at legal firm Allen & Gledhill Singapore, write on the agency structure in Islamic syndicated financing; while Tony Hidayat of Indonesia’s Bank BRI Syariah looks at the advantages of this instrument; and Sutan Emir Hidayat of the Islamic Finance University College of Bahrain and Ronald Rulindo of the IFSB write on how the structure can meet the objectives of Islamic bankers and economists.
Meanwhile, Khaldoun Malkawi, the chairman and CEO of Jordanian investment and investment banking services firm Al Sanabel International, contributes a special report on the role of Islamic economies in helping to tackle climate change. We also have a report on the trading of options on Iran’s capital market by Majid Pireh of Iran’s Securities and Exchange Organization.
This week, Abdul Rahman Mohamed Rafick Khan of Munich Re Re-Takaful contributes our Takaful report on criteria for selecting a re-Takaful partner; while our IFN Reports cover Islamic banking in Pakistan, GCC issuers’ preference for short-term maturites, and the potential for Islamic finance to fund Indonesia’s dire infrastructure needs.
Our IFN Correspondents write on developments in Egypt, France, Ireland, Japan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic; while Meet the Head talks to Deon Vernooy, senior executive officer at Emirates NBD Asset Management; and our Case Study highlights Celcom Transmission (M)’s US$1.61 billion Sukuk program.