Kuwaits Warba Bank lists $500mln sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

UAE - Nasdaq Dubai has welcomed the listing of Warba Bank, one of Kuwait’s leading banks, with the bank’s chief executive Shaheen Al-Ghanem celebrating the listing by ringing the market-opening bell.

The bank aims at supporting its expansion and development plans as well as its commitment to sharia’a-compliant financing solutions via the capital raised by the sukuk, Nasdaq Dubai said in a press release.

This is the second sukuk listing by Warba Bank of Nasdaq Dubai, following the listing of a $250 million instrument in March 2017.

Shaheen Al-Ghanem said: “We are delighted to reinforce the strong capital markets links between Kuwait and the UAE through our new listing, including our close relationship with Nasdaq Dubai, which provides our Sukuk with high visibility and links to regional and global investors.”

“The Sukuk successfully attracted investors from the GCC, the wider MENA region and beyond, underlining the confidence of the market in Warba Bank’s dynamic expansion strategy in business sectors including investment, corporate and retail banking,” Al-Ghanem added.

The $500 million Sukuk were listed on the region’s international financial exchange on 25 September 2019.

“We anticipate a great success out of listing Warba’s Sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai, which is a first class listing environment, including its international regulatory standards, providing important support for this capital-raising initiative,” Al-Ghanem said.