+Milestone reflects the channelling of global Islamic finance activity and knowhow into Dubai
+Asian and MENA issuers choose Nasdaq Dubai for worldwide visibility and ease of listing
The government of Indonesia has listed two sukuk with a total value of US$3 billion on Nasdaq Dubai. The listings raised the total nominal value of all sukuk listed in Dubai above US$50 billion for the first time, to a global record high of US$52.06 billion. Indonesia’s latest sukuk listings comprise one issuance of US$2 billion and another of US$1 billion.
Of Dubai’s US$52.06 billion in listings, US$49.3 billion are
listed on Nasdaq Dubai and US$2.75 billion are listed on Dubai Financial
Market (DFM). Nasdaq Dubai announced in July 2015 that it had become
the largest exchange for sukuk in the world and has since maintained
that position.
MENA region sukuk issuers with Dubai listings include government and
private sector entities active in a variety of industries including
property, education, leisure, transport, finance, and infrastructure
development. Among UAE issuers, Dubai Islamic Bank has the largest sukuk
listings, totalling US$4.25 billion.
The Indonesian government is the largest issuer on Nasdaq Dubai, with a total value of US$11.5 billion from eight listings. Other leading issuers include Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank with US$8.5 billion and the government of Hong Kong with US$3 billion.
Dr Robert Pakpahan, Director General of Budget Financing and Risk Management, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia, said: “The channelling of sukuk listings into Dubai reflects the growing collaboration between Islamic finance practitioners based in different parts of the world. By pooling our knowhow and respective traditions, we are creating a more dynamic global industry that better meets the commercial and social needs of everyone who seeks the growth and development of sharia’ah-compliant finance.”
Hamed Ali, Chief Executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said: “The rapid expansion of Dubai’s sukuk market is based on intellectual as well as financial input from a wide range of issuers, investors and market participants based in dozens of countries. There is a common desire to come together to achieve new standards of excellence and efficiency and Dubai will further strengthen its role as a facilitator of this process.”
Nasdaq Dubai’s activities to promote the expansion of the sukuk sector include working with IdealRatings, with which it launched benchmark indices that track the performance of global sukuk in October 2016.
Dubai’s growth as the world’s largest sukuk listing centre supports the initiative announced in 2013 by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for the Emirate to become the global capital of the Islamic economy.
Global sukuk issuances reached US$72.9 billion globally in 2016 according to RAM Ratings Services, with Islamic finance assets as a whole valued at more than US$2 trillion.