Luxemburg debut sukuk sees strong demand

According to the finance minister, Luxembourg has issued its first 200 million euro ($254 million) five-year Islamic bond, distributed across 29 accounts, although the market favours dollar-denomineted sukuk. Nevertheless the country thereby becomes the first AAA-rated government to issue euro-denominated sukuk, or Islamic bonds, following London, Hong Kong and South Africa. Luxembourg hired HSBC, BNP Paribas, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg and Qatar-based QInvest to arrange its sukuk.