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The Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index was at 118.20147 points at the end of last month, up from 115.79726 at the end of last year. The Thomson Reuters Investment Grade Sukuk Index was at 116.92144 at end-July against 113.69014 at end-2014. Some of the sukuk in the pipeline are: Kuwait is preparing legislation to facilitate issues of sukuk by the government. Ivory Coast will launch the first tranche of a local currency sukuk programme this year, selling 150 billion CFA francs ($252 million). Malaysia's West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd plans a guaranteed 1 billion ringgit ($265 million) sukuk murabaha programme to fund a highway project.

Kuveyt Turk has issued Sukuk totalling TRY 160 million ($58.4 million) with a tenor of 189 days. The bank said that the initial public offering attracted a record-­breaking number of subscribers and is its largest issue to date. The Sukuk was issued by KT Kira Sertifikalar? Varl?k Kiralama A.?., a 100 per cent subsidiary of Kuveyt Turk, Halk Yat?r?m Menkul De?erler A.?. was the consortium lead and Bizim Menkul De?erler A.?. was the consortium partner in the issuance. Ufuk Uyan, CEO of Kuveyt Turk, said, that at the end of the maturity, the underlying assets shall be transferred back to the sourcing entity. The principal and lease yield shall be paid to the investors in one go at maturity.

Ivory Coast will launch the first tranche of a previously announced Islamic bond programme this year, government spokesman Bruno Kone said on Wednesday. The local currency sukuk bond will be for 150 billion CFA francs ($252 million). In April, Ivory Coast announced that it would conduct a 300 billion CFA franc ($504 million) Islamic bond programme in two phases between 2015 and 2020. African countries are increasingly tapping the sukuk market for funding to take advantage of rising demand for Islamic paper among investors in the Middle East and southeast Asia.

Kuwait Finance House’s Turkish affiliate Kuveyt Turk has issued Sukuk totalling TRY 160 million ($58.4 million) with a tenor of 189 days. The bank said that the initial public offering attracted a record-­breaking number of subscribers and is its largest issue to date. The Sukuk was issued by KT Kira Sertifikalar? Varl?k Kiralama A.?., a 100 per cent subsidiary of Kuveyt Turk, Halk Yat?r?m Menkul De?erler A.?. was the consortium lead and Bizim Menkul De?erler A.?. was the consortium partner in the issuance. The principal and lease yield shall be paid to the investors in one go at maturity. The lease certificates have a gross annual yield of 10.63 per cent.

The value of bonds and sukuk issued by GCC entities during H1 2015 amounted to $48.13 billion, down by 15.19 per cent from the same period in 2014. This is according to a report issued by Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) and titled GCC Bonds & Sukuk Market Survey. The study highlights the trends pertaining to issuances in the GCC region during H1 2015. The report adds that during the first half of 2015, central banks in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman raised a total of $28.29bn, pointing out that the Central Bank Local Issuances are fixed-income securities issued by GCC central banks for the purpose of regulating levels of domestic liquidity.

Malaysia attracted the weakest demand at a sovereign sukuk auction in almost eight months amid concern it will need to bail out state-owned investment company 1Malaysia Development. The Treasury sold 3.5 billion ringgit ($916 million) of Shariah-compliant bonds due October 2025 to yield 4.105 percent on Thursday. The bid-to-cover ratio of 1.85 was the lowest since Dec. 5. Prime Minister Najib Razak removed his deputy Tuesday as he seeks to head off a public rift within his cabinet over his handling of financial probes into debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The entity’s borrowings totaled 41.9 billion ringgit ($11 billion) at the end of March 2014.

Kuwait is preparing legislation to facilitate issues of Islamic bonds by the government as it assesses options to finance a big budget deficit caused by low oil prices, Finance Minister Anas al-Saleh said. Early this month, Kuwait’s parliament approved a budget for the current fiscal year that envisages a deficit of 8.18 billion dinars ($27.0 billion) - nearly half total spending - because of oil’s plunge since mid-2014, which has slashed energy export revenues. The government is looking at ways to save money by limiting energy subsidies and other handouts, and this has worried a public used to a lavish cradle-to-grave welfare system.

Demand for housing in Saudi Arabia is translating into a rush for some of the lowest-rated Islamic debt in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. Three sukuk from Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co are among the five best-performing Shariah-compliant bonds in the region this year. The company’s notes due May 2019 returned 8.2% through July 21, compared with an average 2.1% for the GCC sukuk market. The gains underscore efforts by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to stoke construction amid an estimated shortfall of 2mn homes. The securities have been helped by a clamour for high-yielding assets as the US Federal Reserve prepares to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006.

In the aftermath of Iran’s deal earlier this month with international powers to end sanctions, investors like Hans Humes are anticipating new bonds from Iran. As Iranian officials were in Vienna hammering out terms of the nuclear accord, Humes, a New York-based hedge fund manager, said he’d be a buyer when the nation starts selling debt to finance projects that weren’t viable under the sanctions. Before Iran can access overseas markets, the U.S. and European Union will need to lift a complex web of sanctions, which mainly include a ban on its lenders from dealing with Iran and Iranian banks’ access to the leading global financial-messaging system known as Swift.

The resignation of Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, the chief executive officer of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd’s Islamic unit, added to clouds over Malaysia’s sukuk market, amid a probe into a state investment company and a renewed global commodity rout. He said that he resigned “to explore new opportunities”, declining to comment on speculation the decision was related to the investigation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd. CIMB, Malaysia’s lead Islamic bond underwriter for the past eight years, will now have to find and groom a replacement just as sukuk sales in the world’s biggest market dropped 36% in 2015 to a five-year low. Political uncertainty caused by the probes, falling commodity prices and a looming US interest-rate increase may deter issuers.

Kyrgyzstan hopes to use Islamic finance to attract foreign investment. The Kyrgyz government approved the project on introduction of Sukuk, State Secretary Abduhalik Shamshiyev said at the board meeting of the State Service for Financial Market Regulation and Supervision. International law firm Simmons & Simmons and the Kyrgyz Republic signed an agreement in May 2014 to provide consultancy services for the development of laws and regulations, supporting the introduction of Takaful and Sukuk in the Kyrgyz Republic. The consultancy services were funded under a technical assistance grant provided by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

The Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index is at 118.15458 points, up from 117.85307 at the end of last month and 115.79726 at the end of last year. The Thomson Reuters Investment Grade Sukuk Index is at 116.75730 against 116.56666 at end-June and 113.69014 at end-2014. Sukuk in the pipeline include: Malaysia's West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd plans a guaranteed 1 billion ringgit ($265 million) sukuk murabaha programme to fund a highway project. Bank Muscat has delayed plans to launch a 500 million rial ($1.3 billion) sukuk programme after the central bank rejected the proposal. urkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi has invited banks to pitch for a potential dollar-denominated sukuk to bolster its supplementary capital.

The Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index is at 118.01254 points, up from 117.85307 at the end of last month and 115.79726 at the end of last year. The Thomson Reuters Investment Grade Sukuk Index is at 116.67223 against 116.56666 at end-June and 113.69014 at end-2014. Sukuk in the pipeline include the following: Malaysia's West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd plans a guaranteed 1 billion ringgit ($265 million) sukuk murabaha programme to fund a highway project. Bank Muscat has delayed plans to launch a 500 million rial ($1.3 billion) sukuk programme after the central bank rejected the proposal. Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi has invited banks to pitch for a potential dollar-denominated sukuk to bolster its supplementary capital.

Bank Muscat, Oman's largest lender, has delayed plans to launch a 500 million rial ($1.3 billion) sukuk programme after the central bank rejected the proposal, a source at the bank said. The regulator informed Bank Muscat in writing that it would not accept the plans in their current form, which involved the lender asking for a single approval to issue 100 million rials a year for the next five years, the source said, adding that the central bank had concerns over plans to use the sukuk proceeds to increase personal lending. The bank will restructure the sukuk proposal and file for the approval again. The plans for the sukuk to be issued in various tranches was backed by Bank Muscat's shareholders in March.

Jordan said last month it was going to issue its first ever sovereign sukuk soon. The long anticipated issuance is expected to rake in some JD400 million to finance real estate projects. The sovereign issuance is expected to be a dinar-dominated offering. Though Jordan passed the Islamic Finance Sukuk Law in 2012, allowing both public and private entities to issue sukuk, it was only in April that the government vetted the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector to support the country’s maiden security bonds issuance. Only one corporate sukuk had been issued in the Kingdom before: a seven-year JD85 million security launched by Al Rahji Cement in 2011.

Saudi Arabia's Arab National Bank has received regulatory approval to raise 2 billion riyals ($533.28 million)through sukuk which will enhance its supplementary capital. The kingdom's seventh-largest lender by assets will privately place the Tier 2 sukuk with a tenor of 10 years although it allows the issuer to redeem the security after five years. Arab National Bank joins a string of Saudi Arabian banks that have sought to replenish their capital reserves in the last couple of years by issuing capital-boosting bonds and bonus shares following a period of strong lending growth. Capital reserves are high in Saudi Arabia due to the kingdom's conservative regulatory standards.

Demand for Islamic bonds issued by the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM) is growing, signaling widening popularity for a programme designed as a cross-border tool for Islamic banks to manage their liquidity needs. The Kuala Lumpur-based body is a likely beneficiary of a decision by Malaysia's central bank to wind down its own sales of sukuk, which could in turn spur the IILM to expand its $3 billion issuance programme. A boost in demand could help widen the membership base of the IILM and encourage regulators across Asia and the Middle East to approve the use of IILM sukuk by their Islamic banks. Growing popularity of IILM sukuk could also improve its secondary market activity.

The Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index is at 118.07262 points, up from 117.85307 at the end of last month and 115.79726 at the end of last year. The Thomson Reuters Investment Grade Sukuk Index is at 116.83897 against 116.56666 at end-June and 113.69014 at end-2014. Some sukuk in the pipeline are: Shareholders of Oman's Renaissance Services approved in early July plans for the company to buy back mandatory convertible bonds and finance that by issuing up to $200 million of perpetual bonds, either conventional or sukuk. Saudi Arabia-based Arab Petroleum Investments Corp could issue its first sukuk later this year as part of its recently-established $3 billion sukuk programme. Malaysia's Sarawak Energy plans to issue 1 billion ringgit ($264 million) of sukuk.

Dubai has overtaken other financial centres in listing Islamic bonds on its exchanges, and is mounting a global drive to attract more listings while developing new channels to trade sukuk, Hamed Ahmed Ali, the chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai said. The exchange is working on ways to sell sukuk directly to retail investors, expanding the primary market beyond institutional buyers, and designing a sharia-compliant repurchase agreement, he said. Until 2013, issuers from the Gulf usually chose European exchanges to list sukuk; that has begun changing. Unlike Europe, Dubai has a stable of local state-linked firms which can be encouraged to issue sukuk and list them locally. Also, Dubai is at the heart of a Muslim region, which both supplies sukuk and provides investor demand, Ali said.

The strong demand for Islamic debt papers by foreigners appears to be reaching a plateau. According to analysts, the demand for Islamic bond papers from foreign investors in the last one year has pushed up prices and subsequently the yields have come down. Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services foresees the global sukuk market heading towards a correction in 2015 after Bank Negara stopped issuing the bond earlier this year. Bank Negara’s move leaves the door open to issuers such as the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp and the Islamic Development Bank to step up their issuance and provide the industry with liquidity, thereby contributing to the development of an Islamic yield curve.