Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on establishment of Sharjah Islamic Bank's Sukuk Programme

The Dubai office of Clifford Chance LLP has advised Sharjah Islamic Bank PJSC (SIB) in relation to its US$1.5 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme, which was established on 8 April 2013. The inaugural issuance of US$500 million 2.95% trust certificates due 2018 under the programme took place on 16 April 2013 and represents the first senior sukuk from a financial institution from the region this year.  The orderbook was over six times subscribed at close of the transaction with a strong orderbook comprising of institutional investors from the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

Al Hilal Bank PJSC, HSBC Bank plc, Liquidity Management House for Investment Co. K.S.C.C. and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners in respect of the issuance, with Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC and Qatar Islamic Bank S.A.Q. acting as co-managers.

The trust certificates were admitted to trading on the Irish Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai.

Stuart Ure, capital markets partner at Clifford Chance, commented: "We are delighted once again to partner with SIB, not only on this successful trade, which is a clear signal from investors of the confidence in the stability and strength of the company and its business strategy, but also in the establishment of their funding platform going forward."

The Clifford Chance team was led and co-ordinated by Dubai based Partner Stuart Ure with the support of Partner and Global Head of Islamic Finance Qudeer Latif and associates Xuan Jin, Shauaib Mirza and trainee Laura Askew.

For further information about this release please contact Magdalena Suder.