GLOBAL: From Malaysia’s
groundbreaking SRI Sukuk to Pakistan’s largest corporate Islamic bond sale,
the global Shariah capital market was buzzing with excitement the past
week.
At 4.3%, Khazanah Nasional issued the world’s first SRI Sukuk to the tune
of RM100 million (US$26.97 million) while K-Electric is preparing to list
its PKR22 billion (US$215.43 million) Sukuk program sold earlier this week.
Malaysia’s TH Plantation also issued RM1 billion (US$269.67 million) in
Sukuk Murabahah to national pilgrimage board Lembaga Tabung Haji. It is
noteworthy to mention that Bank Negara Malaysia has launched a formal
investigation into controversial sovereign investment arm 1Malaysia
Development on its investments and deep debts. The investment company,
which has issued Sukuk, has been under great public scrutiny over alleged
mismanagement of funds (See IFN Report Vol 12 Issue 22: ‘1MDB unlikely to
disproportionately affect Sukuk market’). In the region, we also saw
Singapore attempting to bolster its Sukuk market: Jacqueline Loh of the
Monetary Authority of Singapore confirmed that the regulator is working
with other agencies to provid e greater clarity on Sukuk which may include
a standard Sukuk issuance template to expedite the process.
Over in the Middle East, Barwa Bank approved plans to establish a US$2
billion Sukuk program while construction conglomerate Drake & Scull
International kickstarted a series of investor meetings in the Middle East
and Europe with a potential unrated senior perpetual Sukuk to follow.
Following the procurement of regulatory approval, the National Shipping
Company of Saudi Arabia will also be tapping the Sukuk market.
In the banking and finance segment: we saw the return of Islamic mortgage
provider Amlak Finance after almost seven years of absence as it began
trading on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on the 2nd June.
There is also a possibility that Amlak could be included into the DFM
General Index and sub-index of the banking sector, subject to index rules.
In Turkey, headlines were made as the government formally seized Bank Asya,
the largest participation bank, which has been embroiled in a political
muddle. State-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund now owns the Islamic
financier. And while the market is in an uproar, Fitch opined that the
Turkish banking sector (both conventional and participation) would not be
significantly impacted by the change in management. A week prior to the
seizure, president Erdogan inaugurated the Republic’s first state-owned
Shariah compliant bank: Ziraat Participation Bank and expects the Shariah
banking sector to at least tri ple its market share to 15-20% by 2023.
In people news: Adissadikin Ali, the previous CEO and president of
Malaysia’s EXIM Bank, has been appointed to lead Alkhair International
Islamic Bank (Malaysia) as CEO while Affin Islamic Bank also saw a change
in leadership as Nazlee Khalifah has been named CEO following the promotion
of previous chief Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Jamil to group CEO and Affin Bank
managing director. IFN has also learned that SM Aamir Shamim, previously
the senior vice-president and Islamic banking specialist of the treasury
and investment group at the Islamic Bank of Thailand, has joined Bank
Islami Pakistan as the head of treasury and financial institutions.
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