IslamicFinance.de

South Africa said it appointed BNP Paribas SA, KFH Investment and Standard Bank Group Ltd. to arrange a debut sukuk sale of at least $500 million. Investor meetings will reportedly run from Sept. 8 to Sept. 12 in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. A sukuk issue may follow but the timing will depend on market conditions. South Africa is looking to issue a benchmark-size sukuk. Former South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan earmarked $1.5 billion of foreign issuance over this and the next two fiscal years in his February budget, including a sukuk of as much as $500 million. Standard & Poor’s cut South Africa’s rating to BBB-, on par with Russia and Brazil, in June, with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings has a negative outlook on its BBB assessment, the second-lowest investment grade.

Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, executive director of banking operations at Bahrain's Central Bank, stated that Bahrain is still planning to sell sukuk.
It seems that Bahrain has hired Citigroup Inc., BNP Paribas SA and Standard Chartered Plc to counsel on the sale of US$1 billion in bonds in October.

Tata Group’s investment unit is seeking to attract about $100 million within three years to India’s first Shariah-compliant fund aimed at global investors, targeting equities in a country that lacks regulations for establishing an Islamic debt market.
The Tata Indian Shariah Equity Fund has $3 million after being set up in June to tap investment mainly from the Middle East.
India has no Islamic finance policies, restricting sales of Shariah-compliant bonds in a nation with 157 million Muslims, according to Paris-based BNP Paribas SA and Standard Chartered Plc.