First Islamic bonds have been listed on AIX
Astana International Exchange announced the first cross listing at AIX of Sukuk issued by Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) with primary listing on the London Stock Exchange. This QIIB debt is a Shari’ah-compliant, fixed-income capital markets instrument, Strategy2050.kz reports with reference to the press service of the Astana International Financial Centre.
The offering has been initially made on LSE in the amount of US$500 mln with a spread of 175 basis points over the 5-year mid swaps carrying a fixed coupon of 4.264% per annum.
“We are pleased with the choice of QIIB to cross-list their sukuk on AIX along with LSE which demonstrates trust of international business community in our financial centre. We welcome all potential issuers to follow suit and benefit from using AIFC platform in order to gain access to a broader investors base, improve liquidity and gain visibility to Islamic financial products in new markets. I believe this kind of mutually beneficial cooperation with our partners contributes to the development of Islamic finance industry in Kazakhstan and the region and promotes AIFC as the international Islamic finance hub”, Dr. Kairat Kelimbetov, AIFC Governor stated.
Dr. Abdulbasit Al-Shaibei, CEO of QIIB thanked the AIX team for promotion of financial business in Kazakhstan.
“We thank AIX team who made great efforts to help QIIB successfully listing of our Sukuk which is very important to our international presence strategy, it’s also our honour to be a part of the strategic partnership with AIFC to promote the Islamic financial business in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, Dr. Abdulbasit Al-Shaibei said.
Tim Bennett, CEO of AIX, expressed his readiness to support both potential issuers and investors to ensure the growth of such products at AIX.
“We welcome Qatar International Islamic Bank in our market and are glad to announce listing of the first Senior Sukuk issue with us. We believe this listing is a good signal to the market and will kickstart the further promotion of Islamic instruments in the region. AIX has an ambition to become a key venue for listing of Shari’ah-compliant products and we are keen to support both potential issuers and investors to ensure the growth of such products at AIX”, he noted.
