Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance continues to dominate Islamic finance market

Clifford Chance has once again demonstrated its leading position in Islamic finance winning an impressive number of awards at the 2014 Islamic Finance News Awards including Deal of the Year for its work on the inaugural £200 million sukuk issuance by HM Treasury in the United Kingdom.

Clifford Chance won:

Deal of the Year: HM Treasury UK GBP200 million sukuk
Sukuk Deal of the Year: HM Treasury UK GBP200 million sukuk
Sovereign Deal of the Year: HM Treasury UK GBP200 million sukuk
UK Deal of the Year: HM Treasury UK GBP200 million sukuk
Africa Deal of the Year: Republic of Senegal CFA100 billion sukuk
Saudi Arabia Deal of the Year: STC SAR2 billion sukuk
Infrastructure & Project Finance Deal of the Year: Al Sharkiya Sugar Manufacturing Company financing
Murabahah Deal of the Year: EXIM US$300 million sukuk
Mudarabah Deal of the Year: EMPOWER US$127.8 million mudarabah facility
Restructuring Deal of the Year: Amlak US$2.7 billion restructuring
Trade Finance Deal of the Year: EXIM US$300 million sukuk

These awards are many in a long line of wins for the firm's Global Islamic Finance practice which is headed by Qudeer Latif and supported by a range of experts including Capital Markets expert, Stuart Ure, who is active on the firm's sukuk deals. The firm is also holds the title of the Best Islamic Advisory Firm, Euromoney Islamic Finance Awards.

2014 saw Clifford Chance advise on several cutting-edge deals around the world, many of which helped to establish new modes of Islamic financing in markets including the UK, South Africa, Senegal, South Africa, Malaysia, and the Emirate of Sharjah in the UAE. In particular, the Clifford Chance team advised on all of Africa’s cross-border Islamic financings – two sovereign sukuk, Safi IPP in Morocco and Al Sharkeya Sugar in Egypt, more than any other law firm.

Importantly, Clifford Chance continues to contribute to the development of the Islamic finance economy through the development of new standards, including acting as lead adviser to the International Islamic Finance Market on the development of the collateralised murabahah master agreement.

"We are immensely proud of the achievements of our global Islamic finance practice and the continuing work our clients are involved in, particularly in emerging markets such as Africa. The deals we have worked on recently, demonstrate that Islamic finance is not only accessible but increasingly a popular method of sourcing funds" remarked Qudeer Latif, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Clifford Chance.