‘Go Big, or Go Home’ seemed to be the resonating theme throughout 2012, as major issuances from established jurisdictions such as Malaysia and up-and-coming goliaths such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar made headlines across the global financial space.

Towards the end of the year, the GCC Sukuk market saw a rally for Islamic paper, spurring previously dormant jurisdictions such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar to issue big ticket and market-moving deals. Favorable pricing and the security from highly-rated issuers saw unprecedented demand for paper – such as Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation Sukuk and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank’s Tier-1 Sukuk Mudarabah – resulting in massive book orders usually exceeding five times their proposed size. 

Despite market conditions; advances in Pakistan, new opportunities in the emerging markets of Africa, Turkey and Sri Lanka, as well as major issuances emerging from the UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia made for a very exciting year in the Islamic capital markets space. Project finance and bank syndication deals were also among the top contenders for the much-coveted title of Deal of the Year; with over 300 nominations received across 25 categories, resulting in the most exciting Deals of the Year competition since its inception in 2006.