 |
| My Orchids. Phalaenopsis "Sukuk". Photo ET |
Luxembourg set to debut Islamic bond
The Saudi Gazette echoes the news about the upcoming issuance of Luxembourg's first sukuk, in the order of $275 million. Quote: "Luxembourg’s sale would be the second
Shariah-compliant bond issue from a European sovereign this year after the UK
raised 200 million pounds ($335 million) in June. Borrowers from Hong Kong to
South Africa are considering selling sukuk to help tap the liquid and
fast-growing Islamic segment."
The article also mentions the generally favorable situation for such a Luxembourg innovation: a similar first for the UK in London earlier this year was oversubscribed ten times, which is a good omen. The other positive that is mentioned is Luxembourg's AAA rating with all rating agencies, one of the few sovereigns in the world with that level of rating.
Background for this project and testing the waters is legislation from July 9th this year:
On the 9th of July 2014, the Luxembourg Parliament
has approved the draft law 6631 on a sale and buy-back transaction of real
estate assets necessary to issue an Islamic finance bond. By obtaining
parliamentary approval, the Ministry of Finance has now paved the way to the
issuance of the "Sukuk" transaction which is a milestone in the
continuous development of Islamic finance in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg.
This approval in Parliament underlines the political
will to diversify and develop alternative markets within the financial services
industry and to consolidate the Grand-Duchy as an integrative and diversified
world class financial services hub.
Press release by the Ministry of Finance
No comments:
Post a Comment