IslamicFinance.de

Falcon Private Bank Ltd. on Wednesday sought to distance itself from a controversy involving a Malaysian state fund caught up in allegations of political corruption, saying the transactions it carried out were based on purely commercial terms. Several Swiss banks, including Falcon, have come under scrutiny for transactions involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd. fund, or 1MDB. Among the transactions that are being investigated by authorities in Switzerland and Malaysia is the transfer of $681 million to the private account of Najib Razak, Malaysian Prime Minister.

Falcon Private Bank is planning to launch a fund early next month that will invest in global sukuk.The fund will be offered to the bank’s clients and could grow to $500 million, according to Zafar Khan, Falcon’s Mena chief executive. There is alreade substantial demand from the bank's clients for global sukuk investments, he added. He also considers the yields of the past two years dislocated and the current yields more realistic to the underlying risk.