Sukuk issues reach $115 billion

MANILA, Philippines - Sovereign sukuk are playing an important role in the development of Islamic financial markets. Since Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services started rating these Islamic bonds in 2002, sovereign and quasi-sovereign sukuk issuance has expanded to $115 billion globally in 2012. A broader group of sovereign or quasi-sovereign issuers of sukuk have moved beyond their cradle of the Islamic countries in Southeast Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In the past, many market participants expected that developed, non-Muslim countries such as the United Kingdom or France would be the next to tap the sukuk market. However, cost-benefit analysis, as well as political and legal hurdles prevented these countries from issuing sovereign sukuk. Increasingly, it seems that sovereign sukuk issues from Africa might now be on the radar. Sukuk is an Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance, that complies with sharia, Islamic religious law. Because the traditional Western interest paying bond structure is not permissible, the issuer of a sukuk sells an investor group the certificate, who then rents it back to the issuer for a predetermined rental fee. The issuer also makes a contractual promise to buy back the bonds at a future date at par value.