Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) has issued Senior Islamic Medium Term Notes (Senior Sukuk Wakalah) with a nominal value of MYR 800 million (USD 191.5 million) as part of its MYR 5 billion (USD 1.2 billion) Sukuk Wakalah programme. A statement issued by MAHB on the 30th December 2021, said that the Senior Sukuk Wakalah was in high demand from investors, with total orders exceeding MYR 4.6 billion (USD 1.1 billion), representing a nine-fold over-subscription rate...

Russia’s state-owned Sberbank anticipates a greater role for Islamic Finance in 2022 after its subsidiary, Sber Asset Management rolled out Russia’s first Shariah-compliant Exchange Trade Funds (ETF), named Halal Investments in November 2021. The halal ETF comes right after two newly Islamic indices (MOEX Shariah Index and MOEX Shariah Total Return Index) were launched, which it helped design with Moscow Exchange (MOEX).  Why It Matters  According to Behnam Gurbanzada, Chief Islamic F...

The Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC) has recently announced the latest Guidance Note for Islamic Finance Institutions reporting under the UN Principles for Responsible Banking (UN PRB). The UN PRB is a unique framework comprising six fundamental principles (Alignment, Impact & Target Setting, Clients & Customers, Stakeholders, Governance & Culture, and Transparency & Accountability). The UN PRB was created to ensure that the strategies and practices of signatory banks align with the vision as outlined in the Sustaina...

As Egypt prepares to enter the Sukuk market early this year, we share insights from one of the leading corporate and commercial law firms in the region, Al Tamimi & Company, for an outlook on the local market and the implications behind this major step:On the 15th of August 2021, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified the Sovereign Sukuk Law no.138 of 2021 (the Law), whereby the Government would securitise some of its assets and issue Shariah (Islamic Law) compliant securities, sovereign sukuk (Sukuk). The proceeds from the sale of the Sukuk would be used to finance the in...

Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) has assigned a preliminary rating of A+IS to Tan Chong Motor Holdings’ (TCMH) MYR 1.5 billion (USD 358.8 million) Islamic Medium-Term Notes (Sukuk Murabahah) Programme, with a Stable outlook. The rating is confined to a MYR 500 million (USD 119.6 million) issuance, with any further drawdown necessitating a reassessment of the rating.  Rating Rationale The assigned rating reflects TCMH’s established presence in Malaysia’s automotive industry through its long-term collaboration with Japan-based ...

Malaysia-based agri-business FGV Holdings (FGV) will be issuing a combined MYR 500 million (USD 119.6 million) worth of Sukuk in the form of Islamic medium-term notes (IMTN) across eight tranches on the 31st of December 2021, according to updates on the Bond and Sukuk Information Exchange’s (BIX) website. The Sukuk is based on the Shariah principle of Murabahah via Tawarruq.  Why it Matters?  FGV’s eight Sukuk tranches will have tenures of between one and eight years and will pay profit rates b...

The Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), a state-run listed non-bank financial institution, will be issuing Mudarabah Sukuk, referred to as ‘ICB 1st Mudaraba Sukuk’ worth BDT 10 billion (USD 116.6 million), subject to the approval of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and others, according to a disclosure on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dated 27th of December 2021. Why it Matters?  Proceeds of the Sukuk will be invested in various Shariah based securities/instruments, with at least 70% to be invested in...

The Selangor Zakat Board (LZS) in Malaysia will offer MYR 600 (USD 143) to aid flood-affected families through a direct bank-in approach in the coming days; all required is a police report or confirmation from community leaders on their status. Why it Matters?  Saipolyazan bin M Yusop, Chief Executive Officer at LZS, explained that LZS had only requested the minimum of documents for aid to be sent as quickly as possible and that while the sum of MYR 600 was small, it may help the families in the aftermath of the flood. Many parties had approached LZS...

Prijono, Director of Shariah Economics and Finance Department at Bank Indonesia (BI), has stated that Indonesia’s Halal economy has the opportunity to increase the national gross domestic product (GDP) by up to USD 5.1 billion, according to the Indonesia Halal Market Report 2021/2022. Prijono also noted two economic transformation approaches to realise Indonesia's aim of becoming a developed country. The first is by strengthening the most important or leading sectors, with the second being to build the Shariah economy and finance.  Why it Matters...

According to data from Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), over NGN 865 billion (USD 2.1 billion) worth of subscriptions were received for the country’s NGN 250 billion (USD 608 million) sovereign Sukuk offer, representing a 346% oversubscription (more than 3x). The offer was opened on the 16th of December 2021 and closed on the 23rd of December 2021. Why it Matters?  According to the DMO, the proceeds of the sovereign Sukuk will be used to finance the rehabilitation and reconstruction of road projects across the s...