Islamic banks likely to issue more AT1 debt – S&P

slamic banks in the Gulf and elsewhere could increase their issuance of Additional Tier 1 sukuk over the next two years to support growth, according to an analyst at Standard & Poor’s. Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE are at different stages of implementing Basel III guidelines, giving Islamic banks an additional incentive to strengthen their capital buffers. Most Islamic banks are well capitalised, but there are still compelling reasons to issue capital in the near future, according to S&P. Several bonds have already been issued that the issuers said were compliant with Basel III regulations. One of the key recommendations is that any instrument must contain elements of loss absorption to comply with Basel III.