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Transparency can serve as a powerful disinfecting driver of development and accountable governance. It can also promote responsible practices that support a broad range of policy objectives. These include exposing government corruption, reducing the scope for government revenues to be siphoned offshore, increasing the collection of domestic tax revenues, increasing the accountability and effectiveness of government spending, and reducing dependency on foreign aid.

United Arab Emirates energy firm Dana Gas received a new injunction from the English High Court restricting its ability to pay dividends or increase its debt. Sukuk holders have been trying to force the company to redeem the sukuk since last year. Dana said in late March that it would seek shareholder approval on April 11 to pay a cash dividend for 2017. The dividend would be worth 5% of capital or about 349 million dirhams (67.4 million pounds). But the English High Court order blocked Dana from making dividend payments unless it also sets aside money to redeem the sukuk. It also prohibited Dana from increasing its debt by more than $25 million.

Damac Properties Dubai hired banks for a possible sale of U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk. Hired banks include Barclays and HSBC and more banks will follow to arrange the debt sale, which may happen as soon as this month. Damac is the latest company in the Middle East looking to tap the bond market amid a busy start to a year for debt sales. Besides sovereigns like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Oman Telecommunications and Noor Bank are among those waiting to access capital in the next few weeks. Issuance from the Gulf Cooperation Council climbed to $22.8 billion so far this year, the second-best first quarter in at least 12 years.

QIIB plans to raise between $300m-$500m via Sukuk this year. CEO Dr Abdul Basit Ahmed Al Sheibi said the bank got shareholders' approval and will hold roadshows in selected Asian and European markets next month. QIIB’s $2bn Trust Certificate Issuance programme has already been approved by the the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is being admitted to the official list of the FCA and the London Stock Exchange. The Programme has been assigned a provisional rating of A2 by Moody’s Investors Service Cyprus.

Dana Gas plans to pay a dividend for 2017 despite its legal dispute with investors demanding that the company settles $700 million of sukuk bonds. International funds and local investors want Dana to direct its resources towards repaying that debt. Dana last year halted payments on its sukuk, saying the bond had become unlawful in the United Arab Emirates because of changes in Islamic finance. Dana has been in talks for months with creditors to restructure its sukuk. One of the proposals envisaged Dana redeeming 10% with cash and rolling over 90% under new terms. However, creditors want the company to redeem a higher proportion of the sukuk.

Turkish Islamic lender Turkiye Finans has been granted regulatory approval to raise $450 million via dollar-denominated sukuk. It previously issued dollar-denominated sukuk in 2013, a $500 million five-year deal that matures in May. The bank has been a frequent issuer of sukuk in the domestic market and has also tapped investors in Malaysia through ringgit-denominated deals.

Indonesia issued a 5-year US$1.25 billion green Wakala Sukuk as the first issuance under its recently established Green Bond and Green Sukuk Framework. Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Citigroup, CIMB, Dubai Islamic Bank and HSBC, acting as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners. The Republic intends to use the proceeds exclusively to finance green projects, including renewable energy, sustainable transport, waste management, climate-related projects and green buildings. Alongside the 5-year green Sukuk, Norton Rose Fulbright also acted for the joint lead managers and joint bookrunners in the Republic’s 10-year US$1.75 billion Wakala Sukuk issuance.

The Indonesian government sold 8.44 trillion rupiah ($613.19 million) of sukuk bonds to local retail investors. The sales were slightly higher than the initially-allotted 8.11 trillion rupiah. The tradeable sukuk carry a fixed annual rate of 5.9%, similar to the average rate offered by Islamic banks for 12-month and longer time deposits. The sukuk was sold to a total of 17,922 Indonesians this year. Since the retail sukuk was first launched in 2009, the government has sold a total of 144.78 trillion rupiah of the debt to nearly 250,000 people.

Growth in global sukuk issuance is expected to remain muted this year although issuance volumes are likely stable. Moody’s Senior Analyst Nitish Bhojnagarwala expects sukuk issuances to remain broadly stable between $90-$100 billion in 2018, again driven largely by sovereigns. Although the financing needs of sovereigns, banks and corporates in the GCC have decreased in recent months due to higher oil prices, these issuers are expected to continue to support the industry. Sukuk market activity is also supported by specialised multilateral entities, such as quasi-sovereigns, central banks and supranational entities, including the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the International Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) and the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP). Moody’s estimate that total sovereign sukuk volumes will remain stable in 2018 although some of the large issuances in 2017 may not be repeated in 2018, driving a marginal decline in the overall value.

According to Moody’s Investors Service, sukuk issuance grew 17% in 2017 to reach US$100 billion, underpinned by large sovereign transactions from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. At the same time, new issuers came into the market last year, including some corporates from China and France. The sukuk market activity is also supported by specialized multilateral entities, such as quasi-sovereigns, central banks and supranationals, including the Islamic Development Bank, the International Liquidity Management Corporation and many others.

Bidaya Home Finance revealed plans to sell Islamic sukuk bonds worth 500 million SAR. Bidaya Home Finance hired the services of Ashmore Investment Saudi Arabia to arrange the program.

The Government of Sharjah has issued a $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) dollar sukuk on a 10 year maturity. The lead arrangers for the issue were Sharjah Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered. Walid Al Sayegh, Director-General of Sharjah Finance Department, pointed out that the timing behind the issuance makes this the first sovereign sukuk issued in 2018 in the region. It is also the largest sukuk issuance by the government of Sharjah, which previously carried out two issuances. Al Sayegh said that the revenue from these sukuk would be used for infrastructure projects, as well as urban and financial development of Sharjah.

Kazakhstan plans to issue sukuk in the coming months as part of its efforts to develop Islamic finance in the country. Alibek Nurbekov, head of the Islamic finance at the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), said the final legislative changes to allow issuance of sovereign sukuk were nearly complete. Issuance of sovereign sukuk is planned in the first half of 2018 in total up to $300 million dollars. The sale would follow sukuk issued by the Development Bank of Kazakhstan in 2012, a deal that raised 240 million ringgit ($61.51 million) via the Malaysian market. Nurbekov added that a central sharia board would be established in the first half of the year, while rules covering Islamic insurers and a fund for Islamic endowments are also planned.

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development has mandated banks to arrange investor meetings ahead of a planned U.S. dollar five-year sukuk offering. If the deal goes ahead, Dar Al Arkan will be the first Saudi company to issue an international bond this year. The banks mandated are Alkhair Capital, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, Goldman Sachs International, Nomura, Noor Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, who will act as joint bookrunners of the deal.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has given initial price guidance for a senior, unsecured five-year U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk in the high 30 basis points over mid-swaps. IDB President Bandar Hajjar said that the bank planned to launch a $2.5 billion sukuk soon. CIMB, Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, Natixis, SMBC Nikko and Standard Chartered Bank are the banks leading the deal.

Emirates airline mandated local and international banks to arrange a global investor roadshow ahead of a possible sukuk issuance. The carrier mandated Citi and Standard Chartered Bank as global coordinators and joint lead managers, alongside BNP Paribas, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, and Noor Bank as joint lead managers. Proceeds from the issuance will be used for general corporate purposes. Emirates did not disclose the size of the possible sukuk, but said it will be of benchmark size. The company has tapped the debt capital markets with four issuances since 2011 raising over $3.65 billion, over 50% of which has been from sukuk. The most recent aircraft order was for 36 Airbus A380s worth $16 billion and was made in late January. Delivery of the aircraft will begin in 2020.

According to S&P Global Ratings, the outlook for 2018 is uncertain because of geopolitical risks and economic uncertainties. Sukuk issuance was strong last year with $97.9 billion, up 45.3% from the $67.4 billion issued in 2016. So-called "jumbo issuances" were seen in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies in 2017. Mohamed Damak, senior director at S&P Global Ratings, said the first two months of 2018 had been marked by a good performance for local currency issuance and a drop in foreign currency issuance. He added that 2018, as a whole, was expected to see a drop in sukuk issuance, with expectations for around $70-80 billion in total. There are a number of reasons for this, including central bank tightening, lower financing needs of GCC banks and geopolitical risks. Another reason for lower sukuk performance could be the slow progression of the standardization in the sukuk market.

The Iranian government issued 30 trillion rials (about $670 million) worth of Manfa’ah sukuk at the over-the-counter exchange Iran Fara Bourse. The 42-month bonds, bearing a maximum of 20.1% annual interest, will be backed by 51 trillion rials ($1.13 billion) of government revenues. Each Manfa’ah sukuk is priced at 1 million rials ($22.2).

Saudi Arabia is committed to the sukuk market and will issue Islamic bonds as soon as market conditions allow. Fahad al-Saif, president of Saudi Arabia’s debt management office (DMO) said Saudi Arabia had a ratio of 65% to 35% for local to international issuance, plus or minus 10%. He added that the DMO aimed to develop the local market but not to crowd out the banks. Saudi Arabia started issuing debt in the international markets in 2016 when it issued $39 billion in bonds, including a $9 billion sukuk. Domestically, the government has raised a total of over 70 billion riyals ($18.67 billion) through monthly local currency sukuk issues. The kingdom has recently agreed the refinancing, extension and upsizing of a $10 billion loan it had raised in 2016. The loan has now been increased to $16 billion. Furthermore, a new dollar bond sale is expected over the coming weeks.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) announced it would launch a $2.5 billion sukuk "soon". Bank President Bandar Hajjar said the IDB was also planning to set up a $500 million fund to support science and technology start-ups. The institution has recently hired banks as joint lead managers and bookrunners for a new U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk. The banks are CIMB, Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, Gulf International Bank, HSBC, NATIXIS, SMBC Nikko and Standard Chartered Bank. Hajjar added he expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) soon, on joint investing in Africa. Timing and size of the cooperation were not disclosed, but it would target the 26 poorest countries on the continent.