ISFIN to encourage issuance of Sukuks and support NBAD (National Bank of Abu Dhabi)’s initiative on West-East Corridor.

The  NBAD, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, in the framework of the  Global Financial Markets serie, in collaboration with CNBC organized a conference on February 4th with topic: “The Future of Sukuk: West East Corridor”.

The event was held at The Gherkin, in the first non muslim country  to issue sukuk, to confirm London as  the leading Western hub for Islamic finance.

A group of leading experts on sukuk led the discussion: Michael Bennett, Head of Derivatives and Structured Finance of The World Bank; Gordon Welsh, Head of Aviation of UK Export Finance; Dr. Massoud Janekeh, Director& Head of Islamic Capital Markets of Bank of London and The Middle East; and Mushtak Parker, Editor of Islamic Banker. The panel has been moderated by Andy Cairns, Managing Director and Global Head of Debt Origination & Distribution at NBAD.

The West-Eat Corridor as been identified by the NBAD as an immense geographic area from West Africa to East Asia where a big proportion of the world economic growth will be found, including the growth of Sukuk.

The structure and the nature of this product is going to change substantially the market. Based on ethics and a fair transactions between two partners this instrument allows people to do investment in line with their believes.

ISFIN was part of this great event and facilitated the job of the panelists. Mounia Filali Maarouf, ISFIN consultant, set the conversation on how to issue more accessible sukuks.

Mushtak Parker, with 35 years experience as publisher and writer on particularly the topic of Islamic finance said: “There is a large set of sukuks which are not only for government. The Islamic  Religious Council in Singapore issued the first Sukuk Waqf. But you can also find  green sukuk and infrastructure sukuk for retailer investors. With  a low amount of money it is possible to buy a sukuk. This happens in Malaysia. Sometimes the government restrict only to citizens. But this does not mean it cannot be done in Luxembourg, in Belgium or anywhere in Europe . We need to democratize the capital market. And Malaysia is working hard on this side.”

He adds: “There is a need to democratize the capital market and Malaysia is the main player on this field.”

Mr. Gordon Welsh as well is positive about a issuing more accessible sukuks, he adds: “Of course you can sukuk for any size of transactions. But we have to be realistic about this, you have to be well sized to issue a sukuk.”

Dr. Massoud Janekeh  says with regards to this topic: “This opportunity exists In Malaysia and  in the Middle East. And it is spreading. I think this can be possible in Europe as well.”

ISFIN is looking forward to be an active participant in issuing democratic sukuks in Europe. The conference has been a step forward towards to this objective.

ISFIN is the world’s leading platform for law firms specializing in Islamic Finance, investments from and to the Muslim world and the Halal industry. The alliance covers more than 75 jurisdictions around the world. ISFIN is composed of the most innovative and highly regarded independent law firms, audit & accounting firms and real estate companies in their field.

Contact information

Mounia FILALI MAAROUF
Consultant
Master in Banking and Finance
Mobile : + (32) 489 46 87 18 
MF@isfin.net 
www.isfin.net