IslamicFinance.de

Indonesia sold $1 billion of sukuk at half the rate of its 2009 debut and more than two percentage points lower than a sale by Italy, sustaining the Asian nation’s claim for an investment-grade rating.
The 2018 dollar securities were sold at 4 %, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The nation launched $650 million worth of five-year sukuk in April 2009 at 8.8 %.
Indonesia’s currency reserves have more than doubled since 2009, while President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is aiming economic growth of 6.5 % this year, the fastest since the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'A' issue rating to the proposed sukuk trust certificates to be launched late November, subject to investor demand, by ADCB Islamic Finance (Cayman) Limited, a special purpose company (SPC) of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB; A/Stable/A-1).
The rating on the five-year US$750 million trust certificates shows ADCB's irrevocable undertaking to purchase the assets held by the issuer at the redemption date of the sukuk.
ADCB has implied that the aim of this sukuk is to enable it to raise funds in accordance with Sharia law, and use them for general funding purposes.

ADIB Sukuk Company Ltd. announced that an updated base prospectus relating to its U.S.$ 5,000,000,000 Trust Certificate Issuance Programme (the "Base Prospectus") has been approved by the UK Listing Authority and will shortly be available for viewing on the website of the National Storage Mechanism operated by the UKLA.
The updated Base Prospectus can be found under the following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9868R_-2011-11-11.pdf

Fitch Ratings has assigned Asya Katilim Bankasi A.S.'s (Asya) forthcoming sukuk issue a 'B+(exp)' expected rating, the expected rating being in line with Asya's Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR).
According to the draft prospectus, a Cayman-based special purpose company (SPV) will launch certificates (or sukuk) and use the proceeds to buy from Asya, a portfolio of assets, and any subsequent replacing assets, consisting of obligations owed by Asya's customers. All assets will consist of interest-free finance transactions, taking the form of murabaha or lease financing.

Crescent Wealth launched the first Islamic Australian equity fund, the Crescent Australian Equity Fund (CAEF) on October 6 and the firm is now searching to partner with Malaysian institutions seeking exposure to Australian markets.
Talal Yassine, Crescent Wealth Founder and Managing Director, stated that Crescent Wealth is inventing the significant growth opportunity for our industry to become a leading hub for Islamic investing, particularly in their own region where 62 per cent of the world's Muslims reside.

This is the first Turkish Sukuk under the new Sukuk regulations presented by the Capital Markets Board in Turkey to facilitate Turkish Sukuk issuance.
The joint lead managers were HSBC, Standard Chartered, Liquidity Management House, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Commerzbank, and HSBC was seen as certificateholders’ representative on the issue of a $350 million (EUR 247 million) five-year Sukuk by Turkish participation bank Kuveyt Türk Kat?l?m Bankasi.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) will hold investor meetings for a potential dollar-denominated Islamic bond, or Sukuk.
Meetings will begin in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 17, and will cover Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), before ending in London on Nov. 21.

The 2012 budget with the theme "National Transformation Policy, Welfare for the Rakyat, Well Being of the Nation" was delivered in October 2011 by Malaysian Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak to the Dewan Rakyat (National Assembly).
Judging by the previous election, the next one will be just as tense.
Prime Minister Najib being one of the most proactive supporters of the Islamic finance industry in the Islamic finance space, the provisions announced in the 2012 budget are part of a continuum of a strategy to improve the role of Kuala Lumpur as a major international hub for Islamic finance and especially an origination center for cross-border sukuk, as opposed to electoral opportunism.

It seems that Islamic Agricultural and Rural Finance can bring the genuine green revolution to an economy. As Islamic Finance has made a lot of progressive research in Agricultural finance bringing a number of pragmatic and useful choices which if enabled can bring revolutionary development to the economy.
Muhammad Zubair Mughal Chief Executive Offier, AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics(CIBE), also explained the objectives of a specialized training workshop on Islamic Agricultural and Rural Finance being organized by AlHuda-CIBE on 28th & 29th November 2011 in Islamabad.

Zawya Investor lists 64 UAE domiciled Sukuk going back to the $100m Tabreed Sukuk issued in March 2004. Forty-six of these have been issued, with 17 Sukuk that have already reached maturity.
There are also six Sukuk that have been announced, but not yet issued, with the last one offering on the slab being the proposed Majid Al Futtaim Sukuk, which would partially or wholly replace a cancelled $2bn conventional issue slated earlier this year, but ultimately canned due to inopportune market conditions. Majid Al Futtaim stated that it had authorized Standard Chartered and HSBC to help arrange and place the issue.

It seems that Hong Kong’s government plans to go ahead with moves to transform the city into a “vibrant” centre for Islamic finance.
The government was currently working on legislation to make a level playing field for Sukuk and conventional bonds in Hong Kong, in terms of tax liabilities. Its purpose is to begin a second round of consultation with major market players on its proposals during the first quarter of next year.

It seems that the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) has gathered $691 million from nine syariah-compliant bond issuances.
AMBD stated that it has drifted sukuk nine times between April 21 and October 13 this year. The statement revealed that the nine sukuk issuances from April 21 2011 to October 13, 2011 carried a rental rate of between 0.10 per cent and 0.35 per cent.

Although Libya is Africa's biggest oil producer, it will still have to borrow money for the reconstruction of its infrastructure and one source the new government is considering to be the Islamic capital markets.
Bloomberg stated that the financial regulator has, under instruction from the interim government, arranged a committee with the country's leading banks to change the financial laws to grant permission to the issue of Sukuk.

Investors in Aldar Properties' $ 1.1 billion sukuk are gambling on the fact that the indebted developer will repay the issue even if it means more aid from Abu Dhabi which the company out this year.
The sukuk was established as an exchangeable bond by National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse, at a conversion price of $ 1.55 or 5.69 dirhams.

A strong demand for a sukuk launched by Turkish bank Kuveyt Turk last month underlines how Turkey has the chance to become a major source of Islamic bonds for Gulf investors who are looking to diversify geographically.
The $350 million sukuk was only the second sukuk issued from Turkey.
Although until now Gulf investors have not focused on bonds from Turkey, the relatively comfortable way in which Turkey's economy is coping with global weakness may change their mind.

The Brunei Monetary Authority has successfully estimated nine Islamic sukuk series totalling B$691 million ($540.6 million). The sukuks were priced betwwn 0.1-0.35 percent.

DRB-HICOM Bhd will attempt an Islamic medium-term notes (sukuk) programme of up to RM1.8 billion.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd was assigned principal adviser, lead arranger and lead manager for the programme.
The company stated that the proceeds from the programme would be used to finance working capital requirements; current and future projects; investments; capital expenditure; and, refinance borrowings.

Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, executive director of banking operations at Bahrain's Central Bank, stated that Bahrain is still planning to sell sukuk.
It seems that Bahrain has hired Citigroup Inc., BNP Paribas SA and Standard Chartered Plc to counsel on the sale of US$1 billion in bonds in October.

A study conducted by National Commercial Bank (NCB) showes that Gulf Cooperation Council member countries launched bonds worth around $20.9 billion in the first nine months of 2011, slightly lower than their value in the same period of 2010.
It added that even though the general mood of the sukuk market has turned very positive, new mainstream primary activity (closed issuances) in the Gulf was still restricted to four corporate issuances with an aggregate value of just under $1.6 billion, not an impressive figure by historical standards but more than 10 times the total conventional issuance seen during the quarter.

Hamood Sangour Al-Zadjali, the country's central bank head, stated that Oman may in future consider launching sukuk. He added that inflation in Oman was stable and would be around four percent this year.
Oman accepted Islamic banking in May this year, after previously deciding not to introduce it.