IslamicFinance.de

King & Spalding, Norton Rose and Jones Day have advised on Shariah-compliant financing of £400m which is to be used for the redevelopment of King's Reach Tower on London's South Bank. Investor company Mohammed Al Subeaei & Sons Investment Company (MASIC) from Saudi Arabia provided a £145m mezzanine tranche. The company was advised by a London team from King & Spalding.

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According to Norton Rose, its Middle East team is a ‘regional’ one in which no lawyers have formal bases. This was the answer given to the resignation of two of its lawyers in Bahrain.
The only two lawyers that stayed are construction partner Joanne Emerson-Taqi and project finance senior associate Angela Croker.
By comparison, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer lists three Bahrain-based lawyers (a partner, an associate and a principal consultant) on its website, while Trowers & Hamlins’ lists 15 lawyers and Baker & McKenzie’s lists 12.

Norton Rose has assists its reputation in the Islamic finance field after advising Indonesia on a $1 billion sukuk issuance, as the country attempts to raise its burgeoning currency reserves and targets the fastest economic growth since the Asian financial crisis of 1998.
The issuance, closed on Nov. 21, was build as a sukuk al ijara (sale and lease back) and has a maturity of seven years, with periodic distributions of four per cent per annum.

Norton Rose (Middle East) LLP has advised Citibank as arranger in relation to a US$300,000,000 dual tranche Murabaha syndicated facility for Turkiye Finans Kat?l?m Bankas? A.S., an Islamic bank in Turkey 60% owned by the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia. It is the largest Islamic syndication in Turkey to date.
The initial transaction size was increased to US$300,000,000 due to high interest from banks in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Kuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi, a subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House, will pay a coupon of 5.25 per cent on Turkey’s first Islamic bond offering that was oversubscribed, said people close to the transaction. Kuveyt Turk launched the three-year $100 million sukuk on August 17. This is the first ever sukuk from Turkey and the first bank sukuk originating from Europe, according to law firm Norton Rose, which advised on the offering. “This is another significant step towards growing Islamic finance in Europe. “The sukuk by Kuveyt Turk further demonstrates continuing interest and appetite for Islamic finance within key emerging economies,” Neil D. Miller Global Head of Islamic finance at Norton Rose (Middle East), said in the statement. The joint lead managers on the transaction were Citigroup Global Markets and Liquidity Management House.

Increasing number of defaults will lead to test the legal framework and stability of the Islamic finance structures in centres such as Dubai, Bahrain and Malaysia. Judges will have to weigh conventional law and sharia (Islamic law) used in contracts, and legal uncertainty over key contract provisions could hurt the industry's ability to bounce back when the global economy recovers. The industry will be watching to ensure any legal disputes are settled in a transparent manner which gives certainty to the contract terms entered into, said Davide Barzilai, a London-based Islamic finance lawyer with Norton Rose.