IslamicFinance.de

Islamic finance has grown significantly over the past few years into an estimated US$2.4 trillion industry. While the use of Shariah compliant financing for the acquisition of aircraft is not a new development, aircraft leasing firms and operators are increasingly looking at Islamic finance as a source of funding for the acquisition of aircraft , whether that be via Islamic banks or through the issuance of Shariah compliant bonds (Sukuk) to raise funds via the debt capital markets.

Qatar’s Barwa Bank has established a $2bn sukuk issuance platform for the purchase of shariah compliant assets, according to Moody’s.
The rating agency has assigned a provisional rating of A2 to the programme, in line with its rating on the state controlled lender’s foreign currency deposits.
Trust certificates sold from the platform will be issued by a newly created Cayman Islands special purpose vehicle called BBG Sukuk Ltd and will

While a number of mechanisms can be employed to structure a Sukuk transaction from a Shariah perspective, a Sukuk structure typically involves the acquisition of assets from the entity seeking to raise financing (the originator) by a limited recourse, bankruptcy-remote, SPV established in a tax neutral off shore jurisdiction. The Cayman Islands are, unquestionably, the off shore jurisdiction of choice for SPVs on Sukuk structures originating in the Middle East. The prevalence of Cayman SPVs in Sukuk structures stems from a number of factors: Trust regime in the Cayman Islands, Absence of tax, Ease, speed and cost of incorporation, Sophisticated off shore center for financial services, Reliable legal system, Use of Arabic names.

In recent years, international financial centers (IFCs) such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Cayman Islands (Cayman) have faced unprecedented political and regulatory pressure from governments and international organizations to open up and become more transparent in their business practices. The impression is that these jurisdictions are secret tax havens. However, IFCs are more compliant with international regulatory requirements than they are portrayed to be. The benefits of using an entity incorporated in an IFC are such that they will remain vital components of international structures, even in the face of mounting pressure from onshore governments.

AHAB outlines a comprehensive settlement proposal to a group of banks and financial institutions with claims against the company. These asserted by banks, total billions of dollars, arise out of liabilities incurred through a massive fraud perpetrated by Maan Al Sanea in his time a head of the Money Exchange division of AHAB. The liabilities have so far spawned more than 70 lawsuits in at least 10 countries over the past five years.

EIIB-Rasmala, a venture between London-based European Islamic Investment Bank and Dubai's Rasmala Group, has launched a sharia-compliant trade finance fund as a low-risk investment product. The Cayman-domiciled fund is linked to emerging market trade transactions and the firm hopes to attract $100 million into the fund over the coming year. The fund targets a return of 4 percent with low volatility as the firm continues to expand its sharia-compliant product range. Since last year, EIIB-Rasmala has launched three Islamic funds including a leasing fund and a sukuk fund seeded with $25 million of the company's own capital.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Al Hilal Bank's USD2,500,000,000 trust certificate issuance programme an expected Long-term rating of A+ and expected Short-term rating of F1. Key rating drivers are solely Al Hilal's Issuer Default Ratings.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has repaid in full a $750 million (Dh2.75 billion) five-year sukuk which matured on March 22 from its own sources, prooving the bank’s financial strength and comfortable liquidity position.
The sukuk was launched in 2007, through a special purpose vehicle, DIB Sukuk Company Limited, located in the Cayman Islands, being the first sukuk to be listed on both the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) and the London Stock Exchange.