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Saturday, November 28 - 2009

QIB organizes Sukuk workshop at Euromoney conference

Qatar Islamic Bank conducted a workshop on Sharia'a compliant financing instruments at the Euromoney Middle East Debt Markets Conference, held at the Four Seasons in Doha, Qatar to discuss the nascent debt markets of the Middle East, and specifically the GCC.

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The conference, opened by his EE Yousef H. Kamal Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economy and Commerce, brought together some 250 high profile delegates from around the GCC and international markets, most of them representing financial institutions that are issuers of debt securities in the Middle East, investors in such securities or intermediaries with a significant presence in the market.

QIB took the opportunity to address the very relevant subject of Sukuks in their workshop. Sukuks are the Islamic equivalent of bonds that are quickly gaining popularity in the region.

"Since conventional, fixed income, interest bearing bonds are not permitted under Islamic law, Sukuks are specifically designed to be compatible with Sharia'a law," explained Jean-Marc Riegel, General Manager of Investment Banking & Development Group, QIB. "They have become a force to be reckoned with, and we thought it was time we brought the discussion to the table."

The workshop touched upon an array of related topics, including the structures and regulations for financial institutions, companies and bonds, project financing and Islamic financing.

According to Euromoney, the conference was organized "to promote the benefits of debt capital markets to potential and current issuers within the region and to develop the region's debt capital market structures, legislation and investor base." The conference featured keynote addresses by leading regional and international finance experts, but majority of the time was devoted to interactive Davos-style panel discussions and workshops mandated and moderated by Euromoney. The workshops were organized by such well known financial institutions as Goldman Sachs, Qatar Islamic Bank and the Qatar Financial Center (QFC).

The phenomenal growth in the GCC and the Middle East in the past few years has provided local & international investors with great investment opportunities in the government as well as private sectors. This growth is expected to continue unabated, and along with it the demand for financing.

"The increasing appetite within the region for Islamic financing via Sukuks has played a vital role in matching the needs of borrowers and investors, thus establishing their place in the global capital debt markets,"


shared Mr. Riegel.

"Besides, the countries in the Middle East have also realized the importance of global markets, and privatization has played a pivotal part in the process."

The global market for Islamic financial products is currently worth around $80bn and, according to some projections, could reach up to $500bn in the years to come as more and more institutional and private investors see Islamic financing as a means to providing liquidity, diversification and sustainable returns. The added value that Sukuks offer to the global capital debt markets is expected to drive their growth, and they might eventually even come to match the existing modes of financing in the conventional debt markets.
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Notes and media contacts

For more information please contact:

Elsie Zwein
Action Qatar
Phone: 4361499

Kamal Nasrallah, Action Qatar
Mobile: 6562779

About Qatar Islamic Bank

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) was founded 25 years ago and was the first Islamic and Sharia compliant bank in Qatar. Today the bank enjoys the leadership position within the Islamic banking sector and holds 57% share in the Islamic banking sector and 10% of the total Qatar banking sector. The bank is also one of the world's five largest Islamic banks.
QIB was upgraded from BBB+ to A- by both Fitch and Capital Intelligence in 2007.

QIB was the pioneer in launching Islamic Financial Compliant, for retail, corporate and private banking and operates today in Qatar via 19 branches and ATMs. QIB is also the pioneer in successful real estate investment funds in UK, USA and France.

QIB net profit in 2006 crossed 1bn Qatari rial bar representing an outstanding 98% increase versus the previous year. With this result, QIB sits in 14th position worldwide on best return on asset among the 1000 biggest banks in the globe.

In Qatar QIB plays a key role in financing major infrastructure and real estate projects. For the first time ever in Qatar, a seven year Ijara sukuk for Qatar Airways to finance their purchase of an Airbus A 340-600 in Q1 2007 clearly shows QIB strong determination in Islamic product innovation. In 1989, the bank also established Al Jazeera Islamic Company, a sharia compliant financing company targeting mainly consumers and small and medium enterprises. The bank also established in 2000 an Aqar real estate company and recently Qinvest an Islamic Investment bank licensed by the Qatar Financial centre (QFC) with $1bn declared capital and US$5m paid up capital.

Internationally the bank thinks global but acts local. This means that each market QIB enters, it opens a fully fledged Islamic institution that addresses both QIB principles and the local market requirement and needs. In 2004, QIB established in Lebanon the Arab Finance House and today this institution operates with a network of six branches in Lebanon. In March 2007 QIB inaugurated the Asian Finance Bank in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In London the bank will soon open the European Finance House.

QIB Chairman is HE Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani.
QIB Vice Chairman is Mr. Mohamed Bin Abdulatif Al Mana.
QIB Managing Director is Mr. Abdullatif Bin Abdulla Al Mahmoud.
QIB Chief Executive Officer is Mr. Salah Jaidah

About Action Qatar
Action Qatar, part of the Cyprus headquartered international public relations agency Action Global Communications Group, is based in Doha and is staffed by English and Arabic PR professionals. Action Global Communications has its worldwide headquarters located in Cyprus and the GCC Regional Office, MCS/Action, is located in Dubai. MCS/Action is a founding member of the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA). The Group's worldwide network operates out of 45 offices.

Our training programmes incorporate industry best-practice and are developed at the request of clients, in order to create individualised agendas which reflect the clients' training needs. The training is conducted by experienced PR professionals, who have international experience, as well as an in-depth understanding of media and PR practices relevant to Middle Eastern markets.

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