Economic and Capital Advantage from Securitization – Sukuk
Sukuk – An Overview
Generally, sukuks are asset-backed, stable income, tradable and Sharia’ compatible trust certificates. The primary condition of issuance of sukuks is the existence of assets on the balance sheet of any government, monetary authority, corporate body, banking and financial institution or entity which wants to mobilize its financial resources. The identification of suitable assets is the first, and arguably most integral, step in the process of issuing sukuk certificates. Sharia’ considerations dictate that the pool of assets should not solely be comprised of debts from Islamic financial contracts (e.g. Murabaha, Istisna).
Recently, the concept of sukuks originated with the conventional concept of securitization or asset monetization. Increasingly, creative and practical applications for sukuks are being developed, which demonstrate that Islamic assets may be monetized in a Sharia’ compliant manner that is compatible from a risk and asset management perspective with the traditional roles of fixed income securities. Currently there are several types of sukuks which can be engineered to the specific need of entity. These include:
• pure ijara sukuks
• variable rate redeemable sukuks
• hybrid/pooled sukuks
• zero-coupon non-tradable sukuks
• embedded sukuks
Sukuk Market Overview
In the current environment, the demand for sukuks significantly exceeds its supply. Today, the global sukuk market, denominated in international currencies, is estimated to be US$ 18 billion. If domestic sukuk issuance is included, it has now exceeded US$ 50 billion and i ...