The London Stock Exchange today welcomed a US $750 million sukuk issued by CBB International Sukuk Company (No.2) (SPC) on behalf of the Government of Bahrain. This is the first sukuk to be listed in Europe this year and highlights London’s standing as a key global venue for Islamic finance.

The London Stock Exchange’s sukuk market is the largest of any exchange in Europe. This new listing brings the total number of sukuk admitted to the Exchange’s markets to 19 and the total money raised through sukuk issuance to $11 billion. The lead managers on the issue were Calyon, Deutsche Bank and HSBC, and they were advised by Lovells LLP.

Raffaele Jerusalmi, Director of Capital Markets at London Stock Exchange Group, said:

“Today’s successful issue demonstrates the London market’s continued appetite for Shariah-compliant investments, including sukuk. We look forward to working with issuers and advisers to help this important market to continue to grow.”

In addition to its leading sukuk offering, the Exchange’s market in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) offers seven Shariah-compliant ETFs based on Islamic indices, which attracted £81.4 million worth of trading during 2008, while AIM-quoted Family Shariah Fund is a muti-asset class investment fund offering exposure to a wide variety of Shariah-compliant investments.

AIM is also home to a number of Islamic financial institutions; the European Islamic Investment Bank, which was the first Shariah-compliant wholesale bank in Europe; Shariah Capital, which provides Islamic financial products and services, and helped to create the first Shariah-compliant hedge fund; and the Islamic Bank of Britain, which was the first Islamic retail bank in Europe.