Clifford Chance has advised HSBC Bank plc in its role as structuring bank and Barwa Bank, CIMB, HSBC Bank plc, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers and also HSBC Bank plc as agent on the inaugural £200 million sukuk issuance by HM Treasury in the United Kingdom.
The sukuk uses an ijara structure, a Shari'a compliant leasing structure, which allows the rental income of three central UK government offices to underpin the transaction.
The first of its kind deal intends to establish the London as a centre for Islamic Finance outside the Muslim world and further opens the UK market to future Islamic financings including sukuk issuances, enabling access to new sources of funding.
Commenting on the transaction, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said "The issuance of Britain's first sovereign sukuk delivers on the government's commitment to become the western hub of Islamic finance and is part of our long term economic plan to make Britain the undisputed centre of the global financial system. We have seen very strong demand for the sukuk, resulting in a price that delivers good value for money for the taxpayer. I hope that the success of this government issuance will encourage further private sector issuances of sukuk in the UK."
"We are very proud to be involved in such a landscape-changing deal. A sovereign issuance of this kind lays the ground work for future Islamic financings in the UK, opening the Islamic financial markets to companies, financial institutions and other governmental entities who seek new sources of funding" remarked Qudeer Latif, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Clifford Chance.
The Clifford Chance team advising the structuring bank and the joint lead managers consisted of Qudeer Latif (Partner, Global Head of Islamic Finance) and Debashis Dey (Partner, Capital Markets) in Dubai and Chris Davies (Partner, Global Head of Tax) and Franc Pena (Partner, Real Estate) in London).
Claudio Medeossi (Consultant) and Stuart Mason (Associate) in London advised HSBC Bank plc as paying agent and exercise agent.
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1. Clifford Chance was recently named Best Islamic Legal Advisory Firm by Euromoney Islamic Finance Awards for the fifth time, more times than any other law firm. Clifford Chance has advised on a number of high profile Islamic financings in the UK including on the set ups of the Islamic Bank of Britain and the European Islamic Investment Bank, the structuring of Islamic financing for the purchase of Chelsea Barracks for the Qatari government from the Ministry of Defence, and the structuring of Islamic financing for the buy-out of Aston Martin by Investment Dar.
2. Clifford Chance's leading international finance practice has over 700 legal advisers worldwide. The practice provides commercial and practical advice across the full spectrum of financial products including syndicated lending and leveraged and acquisition finance, asset finance, derivative products, project finance, financial regulatory, insolvency, restructuring and structured finance. It regularly advises regulatory authorities, supranational bodies, governments and government agencies. For more information please visit: http://www.cliffordchance.com/legal_area/banking_and_finance.html
3. Clifford Chance is one of the world's pre-eminent law firms with significant depth and range of resources across five continents. As a single, fully integrated, global partnership, we pride ourselves on our approachable, collegiate and team based way of working. We always strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, which include corporates from all the commercial and industrial sectors, governments, regulators, trade bodies and not for profit organisations. We provide them with the highest quality advice and legal insight, which combines the Firm's global standards with in-depth local expertise.
4. Clifford Chance was ranked 'tier one' in more cross-border tables than any other firm in the Chambers Global 2014 Directory. This independent analysis focuses on firms' legal ability, professional conduct, client service, and commercial awareness, and these rankings provide outstanding recognition for the Firm's breadth of expertise and consistency of quality across global markets.
For further information about Clifford Chance see www.cliffordchance.com
For further information about this release contact Magdalena Suder on +971 4 362 0444.
© Press Release 2014
