Abu Dhabi, UAE, London, UK February 1st, 2015: The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the Middle East's leading bank, in partnership with CNBC, the leading business and financial news network, will host a panel discussion on the "Future of Sukuk" in London, the UK, on February 4th, 2015.

2014 was one of the most active years in the history of Islamic finance, in which a record 19 jurisdictions accessed the global Sukuk market. Leading industry experts and senior decision-makers from around the world will convene in London for a high-level meeting to discuss opportunities, trends and innovation in the Islamic finance industry.

The panel will comprise Michael Bennett, Head of Derivatives and Structured Finance of The World Bank; Gordon Welsh, Head of Aviation of UK Export Finance; Dr. Massoud Janekeh, Director& Head of Islamic Capital Markets of Bank of London and The Middle East; and Mushtak Parker, Editor of Islamic Banker. The panel will be moderated by Andy Cairns, Managing Director and Global Head of Debt Origination & Distribution at NBAD.

Alex Thursby, NBAD's Group Chief Executive Officer, said: "The Islamic bond has witnessed rapid growth in the global market for the previous 10 years. However, it is developments over the past 12 months that have really transformed the way the market views the asset class, with a number of non-Islamic countries issuing sovereign Sukuk. NBAD has been fortunate enough to be involved in a number of these transactions, including the UK government's debut Sukuk and the Malaysian Ringgit Sukuk. It is critical that institutions such as ours play an active role in nurturing the growth of the Islamic finance industry and I am hugely excited that we are able to host this event."

Andy Cairns, Managing Director and Global Head of Debt Origination & Distribution at NBAD, said: "2014 saw a number of notable firsts in International Sukuk: the debut non-Islamic sovereign Sukuk, the first Western financial institution Sukuk, the first Basel 3 compliant Tier 1 Capital Sukuk and the first socially responsible Sukuk among others. NBAD was bookrunner on these transactions and I expect 2015 to witness a further maturing of the market as Sukuk becomes increasingly relevant to global issuers. Middle Eastern and Islamic investors remain highly liquid and tell us they are motivated to buy more international names in Shariah-compliant format".

Farid Barakat, NBAD's London CEO, said "This panel discussion is taking place at the first non-Islamic state to issue sukuk and at time when world economy is witnessing an increase interest in sukuk. Our speakers will share their views on the demand for Islamic finance and the opportunities and challenges exist for growth of Sharia-compliant bonds in the West."

The "Future of Sukuk: West East Corridor" is the second in a series of events being held around the world to support NBAD's 2015 Global Financial Markets Forum (GFMF) in Abu Dhabi in March. The "Future of Sukuk: West East Corridor" follows "The Future of Energy: West East Corridor", which was held in Kuala Lumpur in January. The next series event is being held in Mumbai in June.

The GFMF series extends the Bank's highly acclaimed annual GFMF to an ongoing global discussion in key markets around the world. They focus on NBAD's five key industry sectors: financial institutions, energy, aviation and transportation, real estate and family conglomerates, and retailers.

In just six years, the GFMF has evolved to become the premier annual financial markets conference in the MENA region, attracting over 1,300 delegates from around the world to Abu Dhabi. In recent years, GFMF has hosted highly-distinguished speakers from all over the world, including Dr Ben Bernanke, Dr Lawrence Summers, James Baker, Nicholas Sarkozy, David Milliband, Jean-Claude Trichet, Niall Ferguson, Paul Volcker, Axel Weber, Dr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and His Excellency Nasser Ahmed Al Sowaidi.

The 2015 GFMF, to be held in Abu Dhabi on 1-2 March, will continue to showcase a high-calibre mix of regional and international speakers, facilitating thought-provoking discussions both on and off stage. The forum will be covered extensively by CNBC, who will be broadcasting live from their on-site studio at the Emirates Palace. The series will conclude its discussion in Mumbai in June 2015.

Panellists 

Michael Bennett, Head of Derivatives and Structured Finance, Capital Markets Department, World Bank      

Michael Bennett has spent fifteen years with the World Bank, splitting his time between the World Bank's Paris office and its Washington, DC headquarters, with a primary focus on structured finance. Among other areas, he is responsible for the World Bank Treasury's transactional work in the area of Islamic finance. His notable transactions include the World Bank's only Sukuk issuance to date, a MYR 760 million issue in 2005, as well as arranging a US$500 million international Sukuk for the International Finance Facility for Immunization in 2014. Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked in the capital markets field in New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong. He is a graduate of Columbia University Law School in New York.

Andy Cairns, Managing Director, Global Head of Debt Origination & Distribution, National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD)

Andy has worldwide responsibility for NBAD's bond and loan businesses across conventional and Islamic products. He is based in Abu Dhabi. With more than 20 years experience in international debt markets, Andy was previously Head of Cross-Border DCM at BofA Merrill Lynch in New York having been Head of EMEA and Asia DCM at the same firm in London. Before this he worked in Hong Kong as Co-Head of Asia-Pacific Debt Finance at HSBC and Head of Asian Fixed Income Origination and Syndicate at Standard Chartered. Andy has bookrun in excess of US$300 billion of fundraisings and has been involved in the development of international Sukuk since the market's inception. He led the first-ever global Sukuk for Malaysia as well as debut offerings from Goldman Sachs, Hong Kong SAR, IFFIm/World Bank, Pakistan, Sharjah and the UK.

Dr. Massoud Janekeh, Director & Head of Islamic Capital Markets, Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME)

Massoud joined BLME in April 2007 as Director of Corporate Banking to develop BLME's Sharia'a compliant trade and business finance products and services. In 2011 Massoud headed BLME's launched newly Islamic Capital Market's business, to offer BLME clients access to the wider Sharia'a financing market and to establish closer relationship with other institutions and syndication desks active in the Sharia'a financing market, in particular with Islamic banks in the Middle East. Prior to joining BLME, Massoud started his career at ICI/Zeneca where he spent 10 years in engineering and investments for bioscience and agrochemical products, before moving to strategy consultancy with AT Kearney and Integrum. Massoud then moved to financial services when he joined BDIC as a corporate finance advisor and later on becoming involved in structured debt with European American Capital. Massoud is has PhD in Chemical Engineering and MBA from Oxford University.

Mushtak Parker, Editor of Islamic Banker

Mushtak Parker is an economist, financial writer, analyst and research consultant with over 35 years of experience. He is Editor of Islamic Banker, the market reference for the global Islamic finance sector. He has covered the Islamic finance and economy sector, and the Middle East, South East Asia and Southern, East and West Africa, for more than four decades and has written extensively on these areas. He has published two books - one on Human Rights in Yugoslavia and the other a Directory on Islamic Banking & Finance. He has also written several bespoke confidential consultancy reports on Islamic finance and various economic and finance topics for major institutions including finance and economy ministries in a number of countries, central banks, investment banks, commercial banks, insurance firms, accountancy firms and professional bodies. Since 2013, he has also been a Member of the International Jury Panel of the Royal Award for Islamic Finance.

Gordon Welsh, Head of Aerospace, UK Export Finance

Gordon had a banking career with Midland Bank and HSBC in the UK and the US which was interspersed with three years at Airbus in their Customer Sales Financing team and with a secondment to work for 12 months with the UK's Secretary of State for Trade and Investment to set up an Export promotion scheme. Leaving banking for public service Gordon has been with UKEF (ECGD) in various capacities initially leading the product and business development initiative followed by running the department's business underwriting teams and steering the Risk Committee as alternate Chair. Gordon is currently responsible for the Aviation business and for leading the initiative in the field of supplier finance.

About GFMF

The Global Financial Markets Forum (GFMF), the annual conference organised by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) since 2009, brings an array of well-known international statesmen and leaders to provide a comprehensive analysis of current events and insight on the critical issues affecting global economy and investors' sentiments.

For further and updated information, please visit GFMF website: www.gfmf-nbad.com

About NBAD

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the leading bank in the Middle East and one of the 50 safest banks in the world, has one of the largest networks in the UAE as well as branches and offices in 18 countries stretching across five continents from the Far East to the Americas.

A comprehensive financial institution, NBAD offers a wide range of banking services and products to all segments of clients. NBAD grows strategically toward its vision to be recognised as the World's Best Arab Bank.

 Since 2009, NBAD has been ranked one of the World's 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance magazine, which also ranked NBAD the Safest Bank in the Emerging Markets and Middle East.

NBAD is rated senior long term/short term AA-/A-1+ by Standard & Poor's (S&P), Aa3/P1 by Moody's, AA-/F1+ by Fitch, A+ by Rating and Investment Information Inc (R&I) Japan, and AAA by RAM (Malaysia) , giving it one of the strongest combined rating of any global financial institution.

© Press Release 2015