Bank Negara Malaysia Confers ‘EMAS’ Status to Three Sukuk Issuances (By MIFC)

See: http://mifc.com/index.php?ch=menu_know_lib&pg=menu_know_lib_arcs&ac=796

Last Updated : 05 Oct 2012


Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has conferred its "Emas" status on the RMB1 billion sukuk issued by Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata); the USD800 million sukuk issued by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB); and the USD357.8 million exchangeable sukuk issued by Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah).


The “Emas” was conferred by BNM Governor, Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz at a ceremony during the Plenary Session of the Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF) 2012.


"Emas", which denotes ‘gold’ in Malay word and which symbolises universal value and security, is Malaysia's designation accorded to non-ringgit-denominated sukuk issued by a non-Malaysian or Malaysian institution in the Malaysian market.


According to BNM, the Axiata RMB1 billion sukuk is the first “Emas” status accorded to the Axiata Group. This issuance represents the world’s second RMB denominated sukuk issued in Malaysia, after the RMB500 million sukuk issued by Khazanah. The Axiata Emas RMB sukuk which was issued on 18 September 2012 was upsized to RMB1 billion from RMB500 million due to strong demand from global investors. The issue was oversubscribed seven times.


The IDB USD800 million sukuk is the second “Emas” sukuk accorded to the IDB. This sukuk was issued in June 2012 is part of the multilateral development bank’s USD3.5 billion multicurrency Islamic Medium Term Note (MTN) or sukuk programme.


Khazanah’s USD357.8 million exchangeable sukuk was issued in March 2012. The certificates are exchangeable into the shares of Parkson Retail Group Limited, one of the largest department store operators in the People’s Republic of China.