The December IFN Supplement will focus on the Middle East Islamic markets and issuer and investor activity across all jurisdictions in the region. 

All eyes are increasingly focused on the Middle East markets, with jurisdictions such as the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain ramping up their Islamic finance activity to cater to growing market demand. Investors are also becoming increasingly comfortable with doing business in the region with the opening up of the markets, steady GDP growth and import-export activity, high liquidity levels, the region’s growing relations with Asia and its status as an emerging market with extensive untapped potential. 

Being a natural hub for Islamic finance due to its population demographic, and also a hotspot for international talent, the Middle East markets is becoming increasingly dynamic in terms of issuer and investor activity, and have come leaps and bounds from the 2008 defaults; an acid test which it successfully emerged from. With increased transparency, tighter regulations, the provision of sound infrastructure and an overall healthier business outlook, the Middle East Islamic finance markets are set to thrive. 

In this issue of Islamic Finance news Supplements, we take an in-depth look at the Middle East and how current shifts in its political and socioeconomic landscape has affected the markets as well as the opportunities that have emerged from the rubble. We gain expert opinion on the best investment moves in the Middle East, market demand and product development via roundtables, interviews and features. 

The cover story will focus on the dynamic structure of dual-tranche bonds and its increasing demand in the region, as well as its relevance to today’s market environment. Other in-house authored features will cover cross-border and trade finance, liquidity management instruments catered to the GCC markets, investors’ preferred asset classes as well as the Arab Spring and how governments intend to utilize Islamic finance instruments such as Sukuk to rebuild and finance much-needed infrastructure development. 

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