Qatar's Barwa Bank looking for a bigger slice of Islamic finance market

Qatar-based Barwa Bank has become one of the top 10 underwriters of Arabian Gulf Islamic bonds within three years of opening and plans to seek a credit rating in the second half before a possible sukuk sale. The bank arranged US$863 million of notes in 2012, and is considering its own issuance of sukuk. In addition to sovereign clients, Barwa helped Dubai-based Emaar Properties and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank sell Islamic notes in 2012. The lender had assets of 21.5bn Qatari riyals at the end of June.