Latest news with #IslamicFinance
Argaam
20 hours ago
- Business
- Argaam
Hong Kong aims to deepen partnership with Saudi Arabia: Minister
Hong Kong finance chief Paul Chan said the city seeks to strengthen its partnerships with the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia. During his participation in the Capital Markets Forum, attended by Argaam, Chan referred to growing cooperation with Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai in the fields of dual listings and the development of Shariah-compliant financial products. He highlighted ongoing efforts to connect Middle Eastern companies with global financing opportunities through the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, adding that the city aims to support Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 through partnerships in infrastructure, professional services, and Islamic finance. Hong Kong's financial markets raised nearly HKD 76 billion ($9.7 billion) through initial public offerings year to date, representing nearly 90% of the total funds raised in 2024. Chan also indicated that the launch of the first Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) for government sukuk is a major milestone in this direction, stressing that Hong Kong can become a global hub for Islamic finance, thanks to a flexible regulatory environment and advanced financial services. Hong Kong continues to rely on openness and competitiveness in global supply chains, Chan said. He confirmed that the linked exchange rate system between the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar will remain unchanged, noting that the city provided stability and confidence for more than four decades, with no intention to change it despite international economic challenges.
Al Bawaba
a day ago
- Business
- Al Bawaba
Sharjah Islamic Bank Strengthens Global Standing with Successful Pricing of USD 500 Million Perpetual Sukuk
In a move that reaffirms its strong appeal in regional and global capital markets, Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has successfully priced USD 500 million perpetual Additional Tier 1 sukuk with a fixed profit rate of 6.125% and a six-year non-call period, making a mark as the tightest set AT1 Issuance in 2025 globally. With a reset spread of 195.6 bps, the issuance also marks a reduction in the Spread achieved in 2019 by 125.7 issuance drew robust and was oversubscribed by more than 2.0x from a wide spectrum of investors across the GCC, Europe, and Asia, reflecting the high level of confidence the Bank enjoys among international financial institutions and investment transaction further demonstrates the Bank's strategic use of capital markets as an effective tool to support its growth trajectory and strengthen its capital Mohamed Abdalla, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, commented: 'This latest sukuk issuance reflects the continued success of our strategy to leverage capital markets in supporting the SIB's financial position and long-term expansion. Since our first sukuk in 2006, we have built a solid track record as a trusted and consistent issuer in the global Islamic finance space. This marks our tenth sukuk issuance, reaffirming SIB's leadership in the international sukuk market.'The transaction attracted exceptional interest, far exceeding expectations, and securing demand from a highly diversified investor Ahmed Saad, Deputy CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, added: 'The overwhelming interest from international investors in this issuance underscores growing trust in our performance, strategy, and future vision. The strong pricing outcome is a testament to SIB's position as a robust Islamic banking institution offering innovative, Sharia-compliant financial solutions and maintaining deep engagement with global investors.'This latest issuance builds on the Bank's successful track record in the sukuk space. In February 2025, SIB priced a USD 500 million sukuk at a profit rate of 5.20%, representing a margin of 89.8 basis points over 5-year US Treasury notes. Despite market volatility, that deal attracted over USD 1.7 billion in orders, more than 3.4 times the issuance size, with strong participation from investors across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and joint lead managers and bookrunners for the issuance were: Arqaam Capital, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Kamco Invest, Mashreq Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank. This transaction forms part of a broader capital strategy aimed at strengthening SIB's capital structure, supporting business expansion across key markets while maintaining a commitment to financial governance, resilience, and sustainability.
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Diamond Standard announces Fatwa: The ideal solution for Islamic finance
Diamond Standard Co., producer of the world's only regulator-approved natural diamond commodities, on Thursday announced a historic milestone for the Islamic finance industry: the issuance of a fatwa by Sheikh Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari, approving the use of diamond commodities to enable more efficient and more proper Islamic finance applications. Dr. Elgari is an esteemed authority in Islamic finance, having served as Professor and Director of the Centre for Research in Islamic Economics at King Abdulaziz University, and as Shariah board member for organizations including AAOIFI, Islamic Fiqh Academy, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, BlackRock, Citibank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NDB, HSBC, Standard Chartered and other banks worldwide. The Fatwa signifies a pivotal breakthrough for Islamic finance, where the lending of money with interest is prohibited under Shariah. Instead of directly lending money, the annual settlement for $5 trillion of global loan and bond transactions must be asset-backed, through structures like commodity Murabaha. Until now, commodity Murabaha used metals like nickel, copper, or aluminum. These assets were often created on paper, as options and warrants — a practice now in conflict with AAOIFI Standard 62, which requires the title to the commodity to be delivered to the borrower. Gold, silver, and food commodities are not permitted for Murabaha, and use of metals can result in substantial storage and delivery costs. In contrast, Diamond Standard commodities are a Shariah compliant, fully deliverable and fungible physical asset, with custody and delivery costs up to 97% less than that for metals like copper. After the issuance of Standard 62, a consortium of Islamic banks asked Diamond Standard to develop a commodity Murahaba solution, with audited physical custody in a Muslim majority country. Technology meets tradition Diamonds are a $1.2 trillion natural resource that was inaccessible to investors. Diamond Standard commodities — physical coins and bars — contain optimized and equivalent sets of diamonds, transparently sealed with a wireless computer chip. Since the commodities are all equal, they trade easily on spot exchanges, with a daily market price reported by Bloomberg. The wireless chip enables each commodity to issue an electronic title of ownership, recorded and traded securely on a public blockchain. This innovation supports instant title transfer and remote audit, and eliminates all uncertainty. The commodities are approved to settle CFTC-regulated futures and options in the U.S., and the commodity production is internally audited by Deloitte. GCC expansion To provide a standing pool of commodities to support Islamic applications, and enable investors to allocate to diamonds as a newly accessible natural resource, Diamond Standard is launching a commodity holding and trading company in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. This entity will: ● Supply Shariah-compliant diamond commodities to Islamic finance institutions and trading platforms for Murabaha via an active market making desk. ● Offer a listed fund vehicle for equity and Sukuk investors seeking to invest in hard assets, expecting the value of diamonds to increase due to Islamic and investment demand. ● Anchor the development of new manufacturing, exports, and trading in the GCC region. This Diamond Standard commodity holding company has secured $280 million in capital commitments and is in discussions with GCC anchor investors to finalize the location of diamond importing, production and trading in the region. The initiative is expected to create over 200 new jobs, relating to commodity operations, import and export, marketing, trading, custody, and lending–as well as Islamic finance jobs. Tax free custody at DMCC Diamond Standard also announced that it had selected the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) as the venue to provide audited, tax-free custody for the Diamond Standard commodities. This will benefit Islamic banks and investors by avoiding the tariffs on diamonds entering the U.S. and elsewhere. Unlocking a New Future Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, stated: 'We intended to unlock $1.2 trillion of natural diamonds as an investment asset, but their dense value, combined with modern technology, has surprisingly made diamonds ideal for Islamic finance. We are honored to offer this asset to strengthen Islamic values.'
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Sharjah Islamic Bank strengthens global standing with successful pricing of $500mln perpetual sukuk
Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has successfully priced US$ 500 million perpetual Additional Tier 1 sukuk with a fixed profit rate of 6.125 percent and a six-year non-call period, making a mark as the tightest set AT1 Issuance in 2025 globally. With a reset spread of 195.6 bps, the issuance also marks a reduction in the Spread achieved in 2019 by 125.7 bps. The issuance drew robust and was oversubscribed by more than 2.0x from a wide spectrum of investors across the GCC, Europe, and Asia, reflecting the high level of confidence the Bank enjoys among international financial institutions and investment funds. This transaction further demonstrates the Bank's strategic use of capital markets as an effective tool to support its growth trajectory and strengthen its capital base. Mohamed Abdalla, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, commented, 'This latest sukuk issuance reflects the continued success of our strategy to leverage capital markets in supporting the SIB's financial position and long-term expansion. Since our first sukuk in 2006, we have built a solid track record as a trusted and consistent issuer in the global Islamic finance space. This marks our tenth sukuk issuance, reaffirming SIB's leadership in the international sukuk market.' The transaction attracted exceptional interest, far exceeding expectations, and securing demand from a highly diversified investor base. Ahmed Saad, Deputy CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, added, 'The overwhelming interest from international investors in this issuance underscores growing trust in our performance, strategy, and future vision. The strong pricing outcome is a testament to SIB's position as a robust Islamic banking institution offering innovative, Sharia-compliant financial solutions and maintaining deep engagement with global investors.' This latest issuance builds on the Bank's successful track record in the sukuk space. In February 2025, SIB priced a US$500 million sukuk at a profit rate of 5.20 percent, representing a margin of 89.8 basis points over 5-year US Treasury notes. Despite market volatility, that deal attracted over US$1.7 billion in orders, more than 3.4 times the issuance size, with strong participation from investors across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Asia. The joint lead managers and bookrunners for the issuance were: Arqaam Capital, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Kamco Invest, Mashreq Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank. This transaction forms part of a broader capital strategy aimed at strengthening SIB's capital structure, supporting business expansion across key markets while maintaining a commitment to financial governance, resilience, and sustainability.
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Kuwait's Boubyan Bank launches $500mln senior unsecured 5-year sukuk
Kuwait's Boubyan Bank has launched its $500 million senior unsecured Reg S 5-year sukuk, with a spread set at CT5+95bps. The initial price guidance came in the area of T+130bps. The order book is $1.7 billion, excluding JLM interest. The issuance is rated A by Fitch, in line with the lender's rating by Fitch and S&P, and A2 by Moody's. The Wakala / Murabaha structure has a fixed rate coupon, paid semi-annually. The settlement date is June 4. Banks mandated include Standard Chartered, HSBC, and Citi Bank, which have been appointed global coordinators on the issuance. Arab Banking Corporation, Boubyan Capital Investment Company, KFH Capital Investment Company, Warba Bank, KIB Invest, Dubai Islamic Bank, SMBC Bank International, The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, along with Standard Chartered, HSBC, and Citi Bank have been appointed joint lead managers. The structure will be issued under Boubyan's $3 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme and will trade on Euronext Dublin. (Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
