DDCAP Group Managing Director, Stella Cox, was delighted to be asked to speak at the 2018 Sukuk Summit, which took place in London on 5th March, organised by Freuds.
The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), one of the world’s largest multilateral development banks, sponsored the Sukuk Summit – in partnership with the UK Government and London Stock Exchange Group – to convene experts and investors from across the world to discuss Islamic finance and Sukuk.
The Sukuk market represents a key component of the Islamic financial system, which has grown at a double-digit rate for the last decade and reached approximately $3.5 trillion (£2.4 trillion) last year.
The 2018 Sukuk Summit brought together over 125 experts from government; senior management of supra-national institutions; representatives of central banks; representatives of international and regional banks; FinTech and academia in order to explore trends and opportunities in Sukuk-led Islamic capital markets.
The Summit’s location reflects the UK’s growing expertise in Islamic finance and the UK Government’s support for the sector over a number of years. This has included the launch of the UK Government’s own £200million Sukuk in 2014: cementing Britain’s position as the leading western financial centre for Islamic finance by becoming the first country outside the Islamic world to issue sovereign Sukuk. Furthermore, last month, Al Rayan Bank – the UK’s retail focused Islamic bank – became the first bank in the world to issue a public Sukuk in a non-Muslim country. The Bank’s ‘Tolkien Funding Sukuk No.1 Plc’ is the largest ever Sterling Sukuk issued and the first UK RMBS issue to be structured in acordance with Sharia’a principles.
Key note speakers at the Summit, representing the sponsors and also governmental perspectives included:
Rt. Hon. Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank
John Glen MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister
Nikhil Rathi, CEO of London Stock Exchange PLC
Fahad Al Saif, Head of Debt Management, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Finance
During the Summit, the IsDB announced its funding plan for the first half of 2018, which is estimated at $2.5 billion – the largest since the Bank’s inception – as well as the imminent issuance, subject to market conditions, of a benchmark sized Sukuk. The proceeds of that will be deployed to support infrastructure, education and health projects across the IsDB’s 57-member nations, which span across four continents and include 1 in 5 of the world’s population.
Following the main Summit, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt. Hon Philip Hammond MP, invited delegates to an afternoon reception at Number 11 Downing Street.
Amongst the proceedings on the day Stella Cox and DDCAP Group Deputy CEO, Lawrence Oliver, were asked to join H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank, as he formally opened trading at the London Stock Exchange in London with Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London. During the Summit, Stella spoke during the panel session entitled “Britain: A Launchpad for Islamic Investment Opportunities Across the World” and was later interviewed about Islamic finance by Ian King for Sky News. Please find the interview below.