By Hani Ibrahim, Head of Debt Capital Markets
at QInvest
Islamic Finance News
n the 19th October 2016, the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) priced its
inaugural international bond issuance, raising
US$17.5 billion. There is no question that
this was a landmark global transaction; the
largest debut debt capital markets
transaction, the largest emerging markets bond
issue and the largest syndicated sovereign
bond. However, one fact was notable only by
its absence: there was no Islamic tranche as
part of the issuance, unlike the recent
sovereign issuance from Bahrain. So why did
the KSA issue its jumbo debut issuance in a
bond format and could it not also issue in a
similar size and tenor in the Sukuk format?
HANI IBRAHIM delves further.