http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5a8f4c58-c6d2-11db-8f4f-000b5df10621.html
London launch of Islamic bonds By David Oakley Published: February 28 2007 02:00 | Last updated: February 28 2007 02:00 The first billion-dollar Islamic bonds are to be listed in London as the capital passes another milestone in its aim to become the centre of this rapidly growing area of finance. The listing of the two bonds on the London Stock Exchange next month will also raise the profile of Islamic finance, which is still a minnow in the global market place, and boost the fledgling secondary market, which is just emerging. Mark Hammarskjold, a director in Credit Suisse's structured equity group, who helped launch one of the bonds last week, said: "We did debate the appropriate place to list the sukuk, and decided on London as it gives both investors and the issuer greatest visibility." Arul Kandasamy, head of Islamic financing at Barclays Capital, said the choice of London would encourage investors to buy at the pricing of a bond in the primary market and help liquidity in the secondary market. He said London offered publicity, prestige and an established regulatory regime that attracts investors and encourages them to buy these bonds. The amount of outstanding sukuk bonds, which are structured in a similar way to conventional bonds, but offer coupon profits instead of coupon interest - banned under Islamic law - has jumped sharply. The two latest deals, from Aldar Properties, the United Arab Emirates developer, and the Dubai Islamic Bank, will help propel the amount of outstanding sukuk in the world past $70bn. The Aldar Properties deal, which is expected to list officially in London next week, raised $2.5bn last week. The company deliberately targeted western investors and allocated the lion's share of the bond to Europeans. About 80 per cent of the bond was bought by western buyers, of which 74 per cent were European. This is much higher than previous sukuks, which tended to draw mainly Muslim buyers. The Dubai Islamic Bank bond, which is yet to price and will be of benchmark size, suggesting more than $1bn, is likely to list in London at the end of next month after a roadshow. It will also list on the Dubai exchange. London is winning the early stages in the race to become the Islamic financial centre of the west, partly because of its geographical location - which has advantages over New York - and partly because the government and banks in the UK have been more willing to embrace this kind of finance than in the US. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007 +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4It09A/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
