IslamicFinance.de

Jebel Ali Free Zone FZE wants to raise a mix $1.85 billion from a bank facility and the sale of Islamic bonds to help refinance its 7.5 billion-dirham ($2 billion) debt maturing in November.
It appears that the company authorized Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, Citigroup Inc., Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD PJSC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC and Standard Chartered Plc to prepare investor meetings in Asia, Europe and the Middle East from June 5 ahead of a possible sukuk sale.

It seems that the Emaar Properties PJSC agreed on an $800 million Islamic loan with three banks that pays 3.5 per cent more than the benchmark rate.
The developer of the world’s tallest tower will also pay fees for the facility, which is supplied by Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Standard Chartered Plc and National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC. The financing is backed by Emaar’s flagship Dubai Mall.
The so-called profit rate is about 4%, compared with a yield of 8.55% on November 30 on Emaar’s Islamic bond maturing August 2016.

HSBC Holdings Plc, the second-largest underwriter of Islamic bonds, plans to start its first Shariah- compliant exchange traded funds in the Persian Gulf, a region that is struggling to lure international investors.
ETFs may help local markets attract some of the $49.4 billion that EPFR Global says poured into emerging market stock funds this year. Restrictions on foreign participation in Gulf markets range from bans to caps on ownership. Investors have sidestepped most countries in the Middle East and North Africa during a recent surge in capital inflows to emerging markets because of debt restructurings.
The funds will give overseas investors greater access to the region’s markets, Razi Fakih, deputy chief executive officer of HSBC’s Islamic unit in Dubai, said in a telephone interview Oct. 5. National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC started the Gulf’s first non-Shariah compliant ETF in March, followed by Falcom Financial Services’ Islamic fund in Saudi Arabia that month.