IslamicFinance.de

The ratings on Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank continue to reflect its overall sound risk profile. IIRA’s assessment on Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank encompasses sponsor support from its key shareholders that include Kuwait Finance House, Islamic Development Bank and other quasi-sovereign entities such as the General Directorate of Foundations – Turkey and Kuwait Public Institution for Social Security.

The new Index will contain 98 Sukuk from 61 issuers that will have a current market value of over $90 billion. The Emirates NBD Markit iBoxx USD Sukuk index captures sovereign, sub-sovereign and corporate Sukuk from emerging and developed markets and will contain investment grade, sub investment grade and unrated securities. They will all offer a broad representation of the global Sukuk universe and provide combining transparency, multi-dimensional analysis, independence and flexibility, it will provide an accurate and objective benchmark for Islamic finance investors.
Developed by Emirates NBD Group in collaboration with IHS Markit, the Emirates NBD Markit iBoxx USD Sukuk Index is a market-cap weighted index dedicated to capturing the performance of the Sukuk market. It will be used for benchmarking, risk and performance analysis and as an underlying for tradable products. In order to meet the growing demand for Shari'ah-compliant solutions, it is envisaged that the Index will be utilised by a range of institutions including asset managers, banks, pensions and sovereign wealth funds and ETF issuers.

Issuance of Sukuk is up all around the world, up on last year, due to current economic factors and the goodwill for the instrument among global investors
The good news on the Sukuk front is continuing. The proportion of Sukuk bond issuance hit a record in the first quarter of 2016 in the main markets for this form of finance, said Fitch Ratings. According to Fitch’s data, there is a clear upwards trend in use of Shari'ah-compliant borrowing as more countries create legal frameworks to support issuance and as issuers try to attract a broader investor base, including Islamic finance investors.
Total new Sukuk issuance in the Gulf Cooperation Council, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Singapore and Pakistan was around $11.1 billion in the first quarter of 2016, with a maturity of 18 months. Issuance was up 22% from the fourth quarter of 2015 and 21% from a year earlier, while non-Sukuk bond issuance of $17.1 billion was down 23% quarter on quarter and 45% year on year. Sukuk represented 39.3% of total bond and Sukuk issuance in these countries during the quarter—the highest proportion in the past eight years.

The Middle East and North Africa region recorded strong growth in the Sukuk market in the first 10 months of 2015, according to Michele Leung, Director, Fixed Income Indices, S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The market value, as tracked by the S&P MENA Sukuk Index, rose 14 % YTD to 37 billion, compared with the mere 1 % growth in the conventional bond market in the region. The Sukuk market has expanded 37 % since the S&P MENA Sukuk Index’s inception in July 2013. United Arab Emirates is the most active issuing country in the region, and it remains dominant in terms of country exposure at 52 %, followed by Saudi Arabia at 17 %.
Overall, governments have continued to diversify their funding platforms, and the global Sukuk market has witnessed solid support from the lack of primary supply. Looking at the indices’ total return performance, there has been a 1.1 - 1.3 % decline in both Sukuk and bond markets month-to-date. As of Nov 18, 2015, the S&P MENA Sukuk Index rose 1.05 % YTD, while the S&P MENA Bond Index outperformed and gained 1.90 % in the same period.

According to a statement by the Undersecretariat of the Treasury in Turkey, Citigroup, HSBC and Liquidity House have been mandated to investigate opportunities concerning the issuance of a Lease Certificate in the international capital markets. For this purpose numerous road shows for the Sukuk are planned and will be held in financial centres across the Middle East and Asia. The show will take place in the period 10-13 September. The Sukuk is supposed to be dollar-denominated and issued in the week of 17 September.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has put an ent to talks about the potential sale of its stake in Al Salam (International) Hospital. As the largest investor in the hospital, KFH contributes to the stability, integrity and strength of the latter. Thus, Al Salam contrasts with other competitive hospitals which are of individual ownership. The end of discussions on KFS's side will not affect the bank's financial position.

Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company’s financial strength rating and credit rating were reaffirmed by A.M. Best’s rating agency and Standard & Poor’s rating agency as A and A-, respectively. Thus, ADNIC is placed among an elite group of financial services institutions to have their financial rating maintained in the A category across the Middle East and North Africa region.

NBC shall provide the first Islamically structured Airport financing which is primarly based on Shari'ah-compliant financing model. According to that critical infrastrucutre will be essentially owned by gevernments.