CAPITAL MARKETS - Turkey set to launch sukuk push with 2012 sale

http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com.ANKARA, April 17 (Reuters) - The Turkish government will press ahead with its first issue of Islamic bonds this year and the planned sale should encourage private companies to do likewise and boost Istanbul's role as a financial centre, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said on Tuesday.

The government had said previously it could issue a sukuk in 2012, overcoming sensitivities about Islamic finance in the secular republic as it seeks to tap a rich pool of investors flush with oil money.  (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - The Turkish Treasury close to launch Islamic rent certificates

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - The Turkish Treasury will soon issue rent certificates, says Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan. Introducing sharia compliant investment tools will encourage private sector, he adds.

Turkey should assume its place in the fast-growing market of rent certificates that are compliant with Islamic law, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday.

“We find [developing the sukuk market] important in terms of the diversification of financial sources and investment options for both national and international investors. The Turkish Treasury’s move to issue rent certificates will encourage the private sector as well. We have completed regulations on rent certificate issuance,” he said at a joint press conference with Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek.  (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - TRADE - FINANCE - Turkey offers Gulf ‘perfect match-up’

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - Trade between Turkey and the Gulf offer more than the energy business, say Turkish ministers. Turkey’s plans include restoring a historic rail line to the Gulf

TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu (R) presents Finance Minister Şimşek (C) with a gift at the Turkey-Gulf Business Forum. AA photo (source)

SUKUK - Kuveyt Türk plans five-year Islamic bond sale

Kuveyt Türk CEO Ufuk Uyan says the lender aims to issue Turkey’s first five-year sukuk.

Kuveyt Türk, the Turkish unit of Kuwait Finance House, is planning to sell five-year Shariah-compliant debt, the longest maturity by a Turkish borrower, its chief executive Ufuk Uyan said.

Kuveyt Türk will benefit from interest in a similar sale last year of $100 million of three-year Islamic bonds, also known as sukuk, Uyan said in an e-mailed statement Monday. The sales will enable the bank, one of the four Islamic lenders in Turkey, to tap Gulf funds, he said. (full story)

SUKUK - Turkish delight

HABIB SHAIKH (Souq Sukuk) 6 November 2010

Raising finance through a sukuk can be a key contributor towards Turkey’s long-term funding requirements in the global sukuk market that took place recently was the launch of a three-year $100 million Wakala sukuk on August 23, by Istanbul-based Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, in which global Islamic banking major, Kuwait Finance House, or KFH, has a controlling 62 per cent equity stake.

Country Report: Turkey - Staying the course (Islamic finance grows)

Turkey has bounced back from a sharp economic contraction to become one of the region's best performers. Its prospects are brighter than ever.
 

Turkey's constitutional referendum last month gave a boost to prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party, as voters approved 26 amendments to the country's 1982 Constitution. The poll was an important test for the government ahead of next year's general election.
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SUKUK - Kuveyt Turk Plans Second Sukuk as Market Grows: Islamic Finance

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Kuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi AS is spearheading Turkey’s five-month-old Islamic bond market, planning a second sale of Shariah-compliant debt for 2012.

Kuveyt Turk, the Istanbul-based bank owned by Kuwait Finance House KSC, may sell more than $100 million of five-year sukuk, after a similar size sale in August that was the first in the nation since regulators allowed companies to offer Islamic bonds, said Chief Executive Officer Ufuk Uyan. The government is considering selling sukuk “in the future,” Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said in an interview with Bloomberg HT television on Aug. 25.

“We’re targeting investors from the Middle East, Europe and Asia,” Uyan said in an interview from Istanbul on Aug. 25. “Everyone was expecting a sovereign sukuk from the treasury, but we wanted to pave the way as a bank.”

BANKING - SUKUK - Kuveyt Turk introduces new Islamic security

The bank has become the first financial institution in Turkey and Europe to issue sukuk securities, led by Citigroup and the Liquidity Management House (LMH). The financing received one-and-a-half times more demand than anticipated.

“This is a turning point,” Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said at an iftar dinner hosted by Kuveyt Türk in İstanbul on Wednesday. “As an alternative financial tool, sukuk will make important contributions to the development of the country.”