SICO BSC (c), a leading regional asset manager, broker, market maker and
investment bank (licensed as a wholesale bank by the CBB), announced today that
it has signed an agreement to begin offering the Bahrain Bourse’s newly established sukuk-based Murabaha service, launched in
collaboration with the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), when conducting Islamic commodity Murabaha
financing transactions with sukuks as collateral. The announcement was made at
a virtual signing ceremony held on 14 July 2020 between SICO, The CBB and The Bahrain Bourse.
“We are extremely pleased to be
part of this platform and would like to commend the CBB and the Bahrain Bourse
for their efforts in offering innovative solutions that support
Sharia-compliant asset management services,” said Najla Al-Shirawi, Chief
Executive Officer at SICO. “We hope that with this partnership and other
collaborative efforts, we can leverage such initiatives in order to further
build on the successful track record of our asset management business and
increase our range of financial service offerings across Bahrain and the
region.”
Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al
Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of BHB said, “The Ijara sukuk-based Murabaha service is a
creative shariah-compliant solution aimed at addressing the growing inter-bank
needs. The unique service allows participating financial institutions to offer
Sharia’a-compliant Murabaha service through an efficient process, and hence
contributing to promoting the Kingdom of Bahrain as a hub for Sharia-compliant
transactions.”
The new service will complement
SICO’s current Murabaha facility structures, which is conducted by way of local
and international commodity brokers, and is set to increase overall demand for
sukuk issuances, providing support to Sharia-compliant financing services and
increasing sukuk trading volumes on the Bahrain Bourse. The platform was
established by the Central Bank of Bahrain and the Bahrain Bourse with the aim of promoting
Sharia-compliant structures as a major financing option across Bahrain by
affording customers efficient and competitive funding while ensuring premium
structuring, documentation and execution of the transactions.
The platform is set to help SICO
further expand on its asset management business, which includes depending on
clients’ appetite for leveraged strategies. SICO’s asset management clients are
currently able to benefit from a consolidated, comprehensive range of
collateralized funding facilities for liquidity and general trading purposes.
SICO’s asset management division
offers market-leading services to institutions and high-net-worth clients
across the GCC. The division’s mandates cover funds and portfolios that invest
in conventional and Sharia-compliant equities, short-term instruments, debt
issues (sukuks) and fixed income securities. SICO’s signature equity and
fixed income funds consistently outperform their respective benchmarks,
securing top spots on league tables each year.