The global sukuk market demonstrated its resiliency in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic as issuers and borrowers continued to take advantage of this pool of liquidity under the prevailing low interest rate environment to raise their funding requirements. According to estimates by Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC), the total global sukuk issuance amounted to US$174.2 billion during the year, representing an increase of 10.4% from US$157.8 billion in 2019.

Corporates and financial institutions in key Islamic finance markets continued to underpin the sukuk volume, with regulatory changes due to the Basel III initiative driving a number of tier-1 and tier-2 offerings from Islamic banks, particularly from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The sovereigns also accessed the sukuk market – sometimes in tandem with conventional bond – to help plug their fiscal deficits.

As a supporter of Islamic finance developments, we at The Asset are excited to honour and highlight the market-defining deals and leading institutions in the industry over the past year.

We now invite you to tune in and watch this year’s The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards 2021 virtual awards ceremony.