The issuance of Britain’s first sovereign sukuk delivers on the government’s commitment to become the western hub of Islamic finance and is part of our long term economic plan to make Britain the undisputed centre of the global financial system, according to the senior Government official.
“We have seen very strong demand for the sukuk, resulting in a price that delivers good value for money for the taxpayer. I hope that the success of this government issuance will encourage further private sector issuances of sukuk in the UK,” the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said.
Clifford Chance has advised HSBC Bank plc in its role as structuring bank and Barwa Bank, CIMB, HSBC Bank plc, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers and also HSBC Bank plc as agent on the inaugural £200 million sukuk issuance by HM Treasury in the United Kingdom.
The sukuk uses an ijara structure, a Shari’a compliant leasing structure, which allows the rental income of three central UK government offices to underpin the transaction
The first of its kind deal intends to establish the London as a centre for Islamic Finance outside the Muslim world and further opens the UK market to future Islamic financings including sukuk issuances, enabling access to new sources of funding.
“We are very proud to be involved in such a landscape-changing deal. A sovereign issuance of this kind lays the ground work for future Islamic financings in the UK, opening the Islamic financial markets to companies, financial institutions and other governmental entities who seek new sources of funding” Qudeer Latif, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Clifford Chance, added.