IslamicFinance.de

Syndicated lending by Saudi Arabian banks has increased by almost twice in 2012, according to Bloomberg. On the contrary, syndicated lending has slowed overall in the Middle East and North Africa as it fell by 5 percent this year registering its first decline since 2009. The Shariah-compliant bond market is mostly driven by privately held companies in Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, as they keen to access the public debt markets and thus earn higher yields.

Majid Al Futtaim Holding is going to issue a Sukuk program. It seems that the move has been implied as the firm finds it difficult to raise finance through the conventional route as market volatility and uncertainty abounds.
The company had tried to gather $2bn in a conventional medium-term notes program earlier in the year, but despite undertaking a roadshow to advertise the bond, had withdrawn the notes before launch because of poor market conditions.