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GLOBAL: Capitalizing
on rising investor appetite for international Shariah compliant financial
offerings, Dubai-based Rasameel Investment Bank (subsidiary of Kuwait’s
Rasameel Structured Finance Company) and equipment leasing provider
Ejarah Global have contracted an agreement to jointly develop a suite of
facilities in compliance with Islamic law, collectively known as Ejarah
Investment Program, over the next three years.
Worth up to US$500 million, the program will see the development and
launching of a series of Sukuk fully backed by commercial equipment and
machinery on lease to high credit quality corporate and public sector
entities in North America, the UK, Europe and Australasia; with the
offerings to be denominated in US dollars, Australian dollars, Canadian
dollars and Euros – representing an internationally diversified liquidity
management strategy for the Islamic investment market.
Elaborating on the rationale behind the currency options, Issam Z
Al-Tawari, the chairman of Rasameel Investment Bank, said: “We see
significant demand for multi-currency-denominated Sukuk issues, from both
Shariah compliant and conventional wholesale investors. Rasameel and
Ejarah Global intend for the asset-backed Sukuk issues to be listed for
trading on suitable exchanges, which will enable investors to better
manage liquidity, reduce asset-liability duration mismatch, diversify
their investment portfolios, and provide attractive risk-adjusted returns
relative to current liquidity products such as Murabahah and Wakalah.”
The Ejarah Investment Program not only demonstrates the increasing
internationalization of Islamic finance, but more particularly, the
rising demand for Shariah compliant fixed income instruments. “This
initiative was proposed to us on the basis that the Shariah compliant
investment market urgently needs many more high-quality, well-priced
fixed income products,” explained Mark Mortimore, the managing director
and co-founder of Ejarah Global. “We look forward to delivering a wide
range of attractive Shariah compliant fixed income products from each of
our international leasing markets, through the Ejarah Investment
Program.”
Scheduled to be introduced to the market later this year is a Sukuk
program backed by UK-based equipment leases, motivated by the success of
the UK sovereign Sukuk.
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