Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power has announced plans to raise up to SAR 1.8 billion (USD 480 million) under its SAR 5 billion (USD 1.3 billion) unlisted sukuk issuance programme, according to a bourse filing made on the 10th of January 2023. Why it Matters? The Sukuk was offered via private placement and is meant for institutional and qualified clients, with a minimum investment of SAR 1 million (USD 266,331). The last date for the offering is 21st of February 2023 and the issuance period will be 7 years with a possibility to end it on the fifth year if market conditions allow....

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced the launch of a five-year, USD 500 million Sukuk. The issue was met with robust demand, leading to it being priced tighter than initially expected on the 9th of January 2023.Why it Matters? The spread on the Sukuk was initially set at 90 basis points (bps) over U.S. Treasuries (UST) at the time of the offering's launch. However, due to the receipt of orders totaling over USD 1.35 billion, the spread was tightened from the final guidance of approximately 95 bps.Details  The joint...

FinTechs, like other financial sector institutions, have to consider and respond to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Although this will reduce their susceptibility to ESG-related losses, it can also provide something for FinTechs to capitalise on. ESG is rising in prominence in the venture capital sector, with Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) recently releasing a due diligence questionnaire for venture capital limited partnersAsset owners’ focus on how their venture capital investments account for ESG risks is increasingly flowing down to their Fin...

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has issued updated "Resolutions of the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) of the Securities Commission Malaysia", containing new resolutions and enhancements of the existing resolutions on the 31st of December 2022. Why it Matters?  In keeping with the evolution of the Islamic capital market (ICM), the SAC has held a series of meetings to debate and resolve different ICM-related concerns. As a result, the SAC resolutions have been published for guidance and reference regarding the concept, ICM products, and related concerns. The lates...

The building blocks behind the ‘information governance’ of sustainable finance appear to be an extension of a similar process undertaken to organise financial information to support more efficient capital allocation. But sustainable finance brings a wider range of complex challenges and trade-offs that are harder to balance, which makes them even more important to address without expecting a clean and neat solution to fit every objective. A BIS working paper examines how past experience relating to financial information governance, involving regulators, auditors and information...

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has acquired additional shares in ADIB Egypt, its subsidiary in Egypt, increasing its ownership stake of the entity to 52.607%, as per a statement made on the 5th of January 2023.Why it Matters? On the 5th of January 2023, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) announced that ADIB had confirmed the acquisition of 9.6 million ADIB Egypt shares from the National Investment Bank, which is equivalent to 2.4% of the entity's total shares. According to the Chief Executive Officer of ADIB Group, Nasser Al Awadhi, the company hopes to leverage a strong...

The total value of green and sustainable bond and Sukuk issuances for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 2022 reached USD 8.5 billion from 15 deals, up from USD 605 million from 6 deals in 2021, setting a record high, according to Bloomberg. Why it Matters? The increase witnessed in the marker is attributed to significant banks and government-related businesses entering the market which led to an increase in the number of issues by over twofold since 2021. According to Venty Mulani, Sustainable Fixed Income Data Specialist at Bloomberg, the trajectory of the green finance mar...

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued an Islamic banking license to Faysal Bank Limited (Faysal Bank), making it the second-largest full-fledged Islamic bank in the country.Why it Matters? The conversion of Faysal Bank from traditional banking to a system that is Shariah-compliant, is a rare occurrence both in Pakistan and globally, due to the bank's large size. Jameel Ahmed, the Governor of SBP, has stated that this conversion is a first in the country's banking history and a significant achievement for both the bank and the Islamic banking industry in Pakistan.Details ...

The United Arab Emirates-based Islamic insurer, Salama, has announced that it will see an increase in its gross written contributions (GWCs) to AED 1 billion (USD 272 million) following its acquisition of a portfolio from takaful company, AMAN.Why it Matters?The acquisition was officially announced in October 2022, with both parties, both publicly traded on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), confirming that the purchase is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023, subject to receiving regulatory approvals. The targeted portfolio generated AED 198.59 million (USD 54 million) in...

The Islamic Banking industry (IBI) assets value in Pakistan witnessed a 41.3% increase to PKR 6.9 trillion (USD 30.73 billion) in the third quarter of 2022 (3Q 2022) from PKR 4.88 trillion in the third quarter of 2021 (3Q 2021), according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), on the 27th of December 2022.  Why it Matters? The growth in IBI assets was primarily supported by net investments, which surged 105.8% year-over-year (YoY) to PKR 2.82 trillion (USD 12.55 billion) in 3Q 2022. Furthermore, assets continued to rise due to various Sukuk issuances that were made b...