IslamicFinance.de

Saudi Arabia is considering whether to change the structure of its planned U.S. dollar sukuk issue, which would be the kingdom's first international sukuk issue. The structure would comprise a mudaraba agreement plus a murabaha facility. Potential changes to that structure are now under discussion to make the instrument more easily tradable and less complex to understand for international investors. So the structure may be changed to an ijara format, a lease-financing structure which is common among sovereign sukuk issuance around the world. The new issue would be Saudi Arabia's second international bond sale after a $17.5 billion debut conventional bond issue last October. Citi, HSBC and JP Morgan are global coordinators, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank are also involved with lead roles.