IslamicFinance.de

It is a step in the right direction, but in terms of adding critical mass to the pool of issuances of international sukuk, it is a mere drop in the ocean. Nevertheless, the successful closure in early October 2010 by Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the largest Islamic bank in Qatar, of its debut $750 million fixed-rate Wakala sukuk underlines the fact that despite the huge latent appetite for "A" rated Islamic commercial paper from investors all over the world, such issuances are too few and far between to stimulate an effective global sukuk market and its attendant secondary trading.
Despite the fact that QIB stresses that this issue could pave the way for future issuances, it settled for a single transaction as opposed to a program of which this $750 million sukuk issued on its behalf through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), QIB Sukuk Funding Limited, would have represented the first tranche.
Abroad, QIB signed a MoU with the leading French banking group Banque Populaire Des Caisses d'Epargne (BPCE) to promote cooperation between the two banks for launching Shariah-compliant products to the French SME and retail banking sectors. The two banks will also cooperate on the possibility of arranging sukuk origination out of France for French corporate and other issuers.