Sunday, 23 October 2011

CAPITAL MARKETS - Noor Islamic Bank leads US $1.4bn Islamic Finance Mandates in Turkey

wam.ae - WAM Dubai, Oct. 23, 2011 (WAM) -- Noor Islamic Bank (Noor) has been mandated to arrange and lead manage more than US $1.4 billion Islamic finance capital market deals in Turkey in the last 18 months, making it the most active UAE bank in the republic.

Noor released details of its financial dealings in Turkey on the eve of the Islamic Investment and Finance Forum, scheduled to take place in the Turkish capital Istanbul, from October 24-27. Noor is the Sukuk partner for the event.  (source)


The Turkish deals led by Noor have been very well received by the global markets as demonstrated by the participation of over 55 institutions from 15 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. One of the most striking features of the transactions arranged by Noor Islamic Bank has been that 56% of the participants were conventional institutions. This is testimony to the credibility and soundness of Islamic finance and how it continues to gather momentum and attract greater interest.

The latest of the shari'a compliant transactions is a US$350-million dual currency Islamic structured Murabaha syndicated financing facility for Albaraka Turk one of Turkey's leading Participation (Islamic) banks. Launched at US$ 150m, the Facility was more than 2 times oversubscribed to close at US$ 350m and has in fact become the largest Islamic structured syndicated financing facility raised by any Turkish financial institution.

Noor has an active pipeline of deals for the rest of this year and leading into 2012. It is in the final stages of closing more than three unique Shari'a compliant structured facilities.

Hussain AlQemzi, CEO of Noor Islamic Bank said: "We have taken a leadership position in Turkey. We are the first UAE bank to successfully execute Islamic market mandates there with an aggregate value of $1.4 billion. We are setting records, while at the same time pushing the boundaries of existing Islamic banking business in Turkey.

"The Noor brand is growing internationally and we will continue to seek strategic opportunities beyond the UAE where we can leverage our undoubted expertise in the Shari'a compliant financial sector. Our Turkish deal pipeline is very dynamic and we are committed to being an active partner to the Turkish Islamic finance industry." During the four-day Islamic Investment and Finance Forum, leading regional and international Islamic finance experts will discuss a range of key topics for the Islamic finance industry including how to revive the global sukuk markets, following the financial crisis; kick starting sukuk markets in frontier economies; new business opportunities for Islamic syndicated finance and the future of Participation (Islamic) banking in Turkey.

Among those addressing the conference will be Ibrahim Turhan, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Turkey, Michael Davey, Director, Turkey, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Mohammed Said Shahin, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Jordan and Jaseem Ahmed, Secretary General, Islamic Financial Services Board, Malaysia. Saadat Yaqub Bajwa, Noor Islamic Bank's Head of Financial Institutions, Syndications and Debt Capital Markets, will also be speaking at the conference. 


Source : http://www.wam.ae/servlet/Satellite?c=WamLocEnews&cid=1289995656288&pagename=WAM%2FWAM_E_Layout&parent=Query&parentid=1135099399852  - Oct 22, 2011