Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and General Authority of Civil Aviation win top two accolades at the Islamic Finance news Awards in Dubai (By IFN)

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and General Authority of Civil Aviation win top two accolades at the Islamic Finance news Awards in Dubai

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GLOBAL: The Islamic Finance news Awards ceremony in Dubai last night saw Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) win the most coveted title of Best Overall Islamic Bank and the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) take home the award for Deal of The Year for its SAR15 billion (US$4 billion) Sukuk. The event, which was attended by over 300 guests comprising of the industry’s top service providers, bankers and lawyers, honored the winners of Islamic Finance news’ Best Banks Poll, Best Service Providers Poll and Deals of The Year for 2012. According to Andrew Morgan, managing director and publisher of Islamic Finance news, the competition for the Deal of The Year for 2012 was incredibly close, and saw over 300 nominations across the 25 contested categories. The four other deals contested in this category included Kuwait’s YAAS Sukuk-1, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank’s Tier-1 Sukuk Mudarabah, Brunei Gas Carrier’s Sukuk and Telekom Malaysia’s restructuring. The GACA Deal of The Year was the first-ever government guaranteed Sukuk in Saudi Arabia, and was lead arranged by HSBC, and represented by law firms Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance. Apart from winning Best Overall Islamic Bank, ADIB was last night’s big winners, bagging the awards for Best Islamic Bank in the UAE and Best Islamic Retail Bank, following their strong presence in the market last year. The bank also gained recognition for Mudarabah Deal of The Year and UAE Deal Of the Year with the issuance of their US$1 billion Perpetual Tier-1 Trust Certificates. Islamic Finance news’ Deals of The Year 2012 and Polls has seen an increase in voters by 400% since last year, and as a result, this year’s awards was the most competitive since its inception in 2006. A second ceremony will be held in Kuala Lumpur on the 5th March. To read more about this year’s winners and the IFN Polls, visit www.islamicfinancenews.com