BARWA BANK WINS TWO AWARDS AT THE ARABIAN BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS QATAR 2012
Barwa Bank, Qatar's fastest growing Shari’ah compliant bank, has been appointed Co-Lead Manager for the Republic of Turkey’s debut Sukuk and, in the same week, has been ranked amongst the top ten for International, Global and MENA region Sukuk arrangers in the Bloomberg Islamic Finance league tables (2012 – ytd*) Ranking as of 17 September 2012.
Barwa Bank has been chosen as a Co-Manager for Turkey’s first Sukuk transaction worth US$1.5bn, following a succession of high profile arranger positions for the bank.
Moreover, Barwa Bank has been ranked number six in International Sukuk, ten in Global Sukuk (including global local currencies) and eighth in MENA region bonds and Sukuks, by Bloomberg.
Steve Troop, CEO, Barwa Bank commented on the accomplishments, “2012 has seen us grow our presence in the Islamic Debt Capital Markets and we are extremely proud of both these achievements. This is another significant transaction for the bank; Turkey is one of the most prestigious issuers in emerging markets and to be appointed by them is a further testament that Barwa Bank is an active and consistent player in DCM .We are also extremely proud that our work has led us to be ranked amongst the top ten Sukuk issuers across all of Bloomberg’s meaningful Islamic Finance league tables for this period.”
The bank’s success in these league tables can be accredited to the launch of its DCM platform earlier this year, demonstrated by its Co-Lead Manager role on the Government of Dubai’s $1.25bn Sukuk issuance, Joint Lead Manager roles for the spectacularly successful US$4bn State of Qatar Sukuk, the $800 million five-year Sukuk for Islamic Development Bank and the most recent US$500m Emaar issue.
Khalid Mahdi Al Ahbabi, AGM Head of Wholesale Banking also said, “Barwa Bank is the most recently established Shari’ah compliant bank in Qatar and being chosen for such a high profile transaction as well as making it into the top ten on Bloomberg’s league tables for Sukuk issuance are achievements we take great pride in.
Our simultaneous execution of State of Qatar and Emaar Sukuk as Joint-Lead Managers helped underscore our credibility. We are very ambitious and have proven that we have the capabilities and expertise to deliver on this. Going forward we will continue to develop this market segment.”
With Islamic capital markets experiencing rapid growth globally and receiving growing attention from non-Islamic investors, Barwa Bank’s successes have positioned it as a key player in the market’s growth.
