Luxembourg sovereign Sukuk underway as parliament passes bill into law

67 days to go Thursday 10th July 2014 Luxembourg sovereign Sukuk underway as parliament passes bill into law Daily Cover LUXEMBOURG: The parliament yesterday approved a draft law facilitating the Grand Duchy’s EUR200 million (US$272.37 million) Sukuk issuance. According to a communiqué from the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance the bill stipulates the sale and buy-back transaction of real estate assets necessary to issue a Sukuk. Revisions to the proposed bill pertaining to the securitization of three government assets as backing for the intended Sukuk were made in June. The draft law was later presented by the government to the Council of State for review on the 1st July. Following the parliamentary approval, the Ministry of Finance has now paved the way for the Sukuk transaction — a milestone in the continuous development of Islamic finance in Luxembourg. At the IFN Europe Forum last month Pierre Gramegna, the minister of finance for Luxembourg, told Islamic Finance news (IFN) that the strategy for the benchmark Sukuk has not yet been set. The Grand Duchy will first launch its maiden Sukuk to gauge how the market reciprocates to it, and subsequently define future strategies. Commenting on the concerns surrounding the issuance he said: “It was about many different aspects because it is the first time, and the State Council was asking several questions regarding the limited or unlimited liability of the state in the Sukuk — that was one of the questions. There were also a couple of other issues — mainly due to the fact that it is a first, so obviously lots of things had to be double-checked. The other issues were around making sure that legally speaking this Sukuk is compliant with all the other regulations that we have.” While no official timeframe has been announced, sources working on the deal have disclosed to IFN in confidence that the EUR200 million (US$272.37 million) Sukuk will most likely be issued in the third quarter of the year, with HSBC taking the lead. This parliamentary approval underlines the political will to diversify and develop alternative markets within the financial services industry and establish the Grand Duchy as an integrative and diversified world class financial services hub. Today’s IFN Alerts MALAYSIA: CIMB Group, RHB Capital and Malaysia Building Society poised for tripartite merger to create Malaysia's largest megabank, according to reports CYPRUS: Chairman of Cyprus Investment Funds Association urges government to consider issuing Sukuk to attract Islamic money GLOBAL: Gulf Finance House signs agreement with Dubai Properties Group for development of residential project in DUBAILAND KUWAIT: Al Madina for Finance and Investment instigates first phase of settlement with Boubyan Bank SAUDI ARABIA: Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair proposes plans for capital increase BAHRAIN: Islamic finance industry lacking the risk management tools to compete with traditional banks, says industry player SAUDI ARABIA: Banque Saudi Fransi proposes increased cash dividend for the first half of 2014 BAHRAIN: ICD to establish Ijarah company and software development facility in Bahrain to support SME sector GLOBAL: Kazakhstan offers 10 countries including the UAE and Malaysia visa-free entry into the republic to boost business and investment opportunities BAHRAIN: Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain becomes official banking partner of Bahrain International Circuit DJIBOUTI: Government of Djibouti takes legal action against DP World over concession of Africa's largest container terminal UAE: Capital Intelligence assigns Commercial Bank of Dubai an 'A-' rating UAE: Nakheel announces net profit of AED1.85 billion (US$503.57 million) for the first half of the year SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi British Bank announces net profit of US$309.26 million for the second quarter of the year QATAR: Islamic Holding Group concludes first half of the year with higher net profit at QAR7.56 million (US$2.08 million) MALAYSIA: Ranhill Group receives 'AAAIS' ratings for Sukuk Musharakah tranches collectively worth RM800 million (US$252.05 million) Latest Roundtables June 2014 May 2014 Dubai Islamic Economic Roundtable Series 2014-2 Dubai Islamic Economic Roundtable Series 2014-1 Events IFN Global Forum 2014 15th - 16th September 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Kuwait Forum 2014 29th September 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Sri Lanka Forum 2014 13th October 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Africa Forum 2014 4th November 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Turkey Forum 2014 6th November 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Saudi Arabia Forum 2014 17th November 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Egypt Forum 2014 1st December 2014 by REDmoney events Training Advanced Sukuk & Islamic Securitization 19th - 21st August 2014 (Istanbul) by Islamic Finance training Structuring Islamic Retail Banking Products 25th - 27th August 2014 (Muscat) by Islamic Finance training Structuring Corporate Banking Solutions 8th - 10th September 2014 (Dubai) by Islamic Finance training Islamic Treasury and Risk Management Products 22nd - 24th September 2014 (Kuala Lumpur) by Islamic Finance training Islamic Fund and Asset Management 25th - 26th September 2014 (Kuala Lumpur) by Islamic Finance training Advanced Sukuk & Islamic Securitization 10th - 12th November 2014 (Kuala Lumpur) by Islamic Finance training Advanced Sukuk & Islamic Securitization 8th - 10th December 2014 (Dubai) by Islamic Finance training © Copyright policy: No part of IslamicFinancenews.com may be reproduced in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical (including photocopying, recording or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. 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