UK needs corporate sukuk to be Islamic finance hub

Dubai

THE UK's ambition to become a global hub for Islamic finance, bolstered by a debut sovereign sukuk in June, needs corporate borrowers to take the baton.

There's never been a publicly sold Islamic bond from a corporate in the country, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The closest it has come was a US$500 million issue by the Middle Eastern unit of London- based HSBC Holdings in 2011. International Innovative Technologies Ltd, a clean energy company in Gateshead, privately placed the UK's first corporate sukuk in 2010.