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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), the world’s leading issuer of Shari’ah-compliant short-term liquidity management instruments, is pleased to announce the most active Primary Dealers for the IILM Ṣukūk Programme for 2025.
Based on the total primary market allocations as at 31 December 2025, with a total of 21 auctions and 69 series of Ṣukūk issued for a cumulative amount of USD 22.9 billion – the top three Primary Dealers are:
- Kuwait Finance House
- First Abu Dhabi Bank
- CIMB Islamic Bank
In the secondary market, based on the total trading volume of USD 3.8 billion as at 31 December 2025, the top three Primary Dealers are:
- Kuwait Finance House
- Standard Chartered
- First Abu Dhabi Bank
Mohamad Safri Shahul Hamid, Chief Executive Officer of the IILM, said: “We are pleased to recognise our top Primary Dealers for their outstanding performance in 2025. The continued support and steadfast commitment of our Primary Dealers have been instrumental in expanding the distribution of the IILM’s short‑term Ṣukūk, strengthening market liquidity and reinforcing investor confidence in Shari’ah-compliant liquidity management instruments.
The year 2025 marked a significant milestone for the IILM. We successfully upsized our Ṣukūk issuance programme to USD 8.5 billion and recorded a 55% increase in outstanding assets to USD 6.4 billion, from USD 4.14 billion at end-2024. These achievements reflect strong market demand as well as the unwavering commitment and critical market-making role of our Primary Dealers, whose efforts continue to underpin the depth, resilience and reliability of our offerings — cementing the IILM’s position as the world’s largest issuer of short‑term Islamic liquidity instruments.
“We are also encouraged by the strong increase in market interest, as reflected in the onboarding of three new Primary Dealers, namely Golden Global Investment Bank from Turkiye, Kuwait International Bank from Kuwait and AlRayan Bank from Qatar — alongside 24 new investors globally. Looking ahead, we remain fully committed to working closely with all our Primary Dealers and investors to further deepen market liquidity, broaden geographic reach and support the stability and growth of the global Islamic finance ecosystem.
Kuwait Finance House
“Kuwait Finance House (“KFH”) is proud to be recognised as the leading Primary Dealer in both the primary and secondary markets for the IILM’s short‑term Ṣukūk in 2025. This recognition reflects our strong commitment to supporting the IILM’s mandate to facilitate effective cross‑border, Shari’ah‑compliant liquidity management.
KFH’s longstanding partnership with the IILM in distributing its highly rated and sought‑after short‑term Ṣukūk has contributed meaningfully to the broader Islamic finance industry and strengthened the global liquidity management ecosystem, reinforcing stability and market development. We greatly appreciate the IILM’s acknowledgement and will continue to support its efforts and vision,” said Ahmad Al-Sumait, Chief Treasury Officer of KFH.
First Abu Dhabi Bank
“First Abu Dhabi Bank (“FAB”) is humbled to be ranked among the top three Primary Dealers in both the primary and secondary markets. Placing second in the primary and third in the secondary markets underscores FAB’s pivotal role in distributing the IILM’s ‘A‑1’ and ‘F1’ rated short‑term Ṣukūk to global investors.
As demand for high‑quality liquidity management instruments continues to grow in tandem with the Islamic finance industry, FAB is dedicated to contributing meaningfully to this space, and we look forward to our continued partnership with the IILM in advancing global Islamic liquidity management,” said Tahir Aslam, Head of Credit Trading at FAB.
CIMB Islamic
“Being recognised among the leading Primary Dealers in the primary market reflects CIMB Islamic’s commitment in supporting the IILM’s highly rated short-term Ṣukūk programme and we value the opportunity to serve as a reliable partner to the IILM. The IILM’s global reach and well‑designed Ṣukūk structure continue to meet market needs across multiple jurisdictions, as reflected in the strong subscription levels from a diverse base of international investors.
CIMB Islamic remains committed to strengthening its partnership with the IILM and to supporting initiatives that further facilitate efficient and seamless cross‑border transactions,” stated Ahmad Shahriman Mohd Shariff, Chief Executive Officer, CIMB Islamic.
Assessment criteria and historical context
The ranking assessments consider key aspects of the Primary Dealers’ roles, including their distribution of the IILM Sukūk at the primary level to a broad investor base and their contribution to liquidity in the secondary market. Primary market performance is appraised based on successful bids during auctions, while secondary market activity is ranked based on turnover and percentage contribution to trading.
Since 2013, the IILM has published the league table of top three most active Primary Dealers at primary and since 2019, for the secondary market.
The IILM short term Ṣukūk programme is rated “A-1” by S&P and ‘F1’ by Fitch Ratings. The total outstanding Ṣukūk stands at USD 6.4 billion, with a Shari’ah tradability ratio of 62% tangible assets as of today.
For the full participation in auctions and primary allocations, the 2025 ranking of the Financial Institutions is as follows:
- Kuwait Finance House
- First Abu Dhabi Bank
- CIMB Islamic Bank
- Maybank Islamic Bank
- Boubyan Bank
- Meethaq Islamic Banking
- Standard Chartered
- Kuwait International Bank
- Al Baraka Turk
- Golden Global Investment Bank
- Dukhan Bank
- AlRayan Bank
- Affin Islamic Bank
- Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
- Qatar Islamic Bank
The IILM is a regular issuer of short-term Ṣukūk across varying tenors and amounts to cater to the liquidity needs of institutions offering Islamic financial services. The IILM will continue to reissue its short-term liquidity instruments monthly as scheduled in its issuance calendar.
About the IILM
The International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) is an international organisation established on 25 October 2010 by central banks, monetary authorities and multilateral organisations to develop and issue short-term Shari’ah-compliant financial instruments to facilitate effective cross-border liquidity management for institutions that offer Islamic financial services (IIFS).
The current members of the IILM Governing Board are the central banks and monetary agencies of Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Qatar, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, as well as the multilateral Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.
Membership of the IILM is open to central banks, monetary authorities, financial regulatory authorities or government ministries or agencies that have regulatory oversight of finance or trade and commerce, and multilateral organisations.
The IILM is hosted by Malaysia and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur.
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E: corpcomm@iilm.com; info@iilm.com
Website: http://www.iilm.com
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