IslamicFinance.de

The English Court of Appeal has refused Dana Gas' appeal against fund manager BlackRock to participate in English court proceedings. Dana is refusing to redeem its $700 million outstanding sukuk on the grounds that they are no longer sharia-compliant and therefore unlawful in the United Arab Emirates. Courts in both Britain and the UAE are hearing the case. On November 17 the English High Court ruled in favour of the sukuk holders. Dana plans to set aside this judgement on the grounds that the company was not permitted to represent itself in court. Regardless of the result of that application, additional legal proceedings in England are expected.

Dana Gas sought to have US$700 million worth of Islamic bonds declared unlawful so it could avoid repaying its investors. The bondholder group, led by Blackrock, demanded in court that Dana Gas repays millions of pounds, or hand over stock in a subsidiary that runs its operations in Egypt. It also wanted the court to ban Dana Gas from issuing any new sukuk. The courtroom battle is notable for the absence of Dana Gas, which has been prevented from taking part because of an injunction in the UAE. Any prospect of an early conclusion has been disputed by Dana Gas, which has claimed that litigation could continue in the UAE and could last up to ten years. The trial in London, which is expected to last up to two weeks, is due to hear evidence from the former general counsel of Dana Gas.

There is a growing number of faith-based exchange-traded funds that attempt to marry moneymaking with religious principles. In the spring, Silicon Valley-based Inspire Investing launched its Global Hope Large Cap and its Small/Mid Cap Impact ETFs, pledging to apply Christian values as a screen. Those products join Global X’s Catholic Values ETF, which applies the investment guidelines of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Inspire’s funds have garnered a respectable $80 million in their first six months and CEO Robert Netzly believes that biblically responsible investing will be the fastest-growing investment niche over the next decade. Investment giant Blackrock offers Islamic-oriented ETFs that are shariah-compliant. There are not any specifically Jewish-themed ETFs at the moment, but this can change easily. Juggling core values and full-on capitalism, however, remains a delicate business.

Dana Gas will pay $70 million in cash to bondholders and offers aditionally 8% coupon on remaining debt in order to buy time to restructure its sukuk. The company is facing difficult times as it missed a bond redemption on its sukuk that has matured on October 31. In order to fix this problem, Dana has made an agreement with adhoc committee of creditors, and thus earned time to restructure its finances.