S'pore's Islamic finance hub goal hit by dearth of sukuk issues

SABANA Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Reit is the sole entity in Singapore to have sold sukuk this year in a setback to the Republic's ambitions to become an Islamic finance hub.

The real estate investment trust raised S$100 million in September after selling S$90 million of the debt in March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While the city introduced rules allowing for syariah-compliant bond sales in 2006, offerings have been limited to issuers such as Sabana, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and energy services company Swiber Holdings Ltd.

Singapore is among a growing number of countries that are trying to grab a share of the Islamic finance industry, whose banking assets Ernst & Young LLP forecasts will double to US$3.4 trillion by 2018. …