BNY Mellon Appointed Delegate, Paying Agent For Dubai's DIFC Investments Sukuk

(RTTNews) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), an investment management and investment services firm, Monday announced that it has been appointed delegate, principal paying agent, registrar and transfer agent for a Sukuk launched by DIFC Investments LLC.

The 10-year Sukuk, priced at $700 million, will pay a 4.3 percent profit rate per annum. The joint lead managers on the issuance are Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD Capital, Noor Bank P.J.S.C. and Standard Chartered Bank. The Sukuk was assigned a BBB- credit rating by Standard & Poor's.

This is DIFC's first debt issuance since 2007. The volume of Sukuk issuance in the Gulf region this year has already surpassed $20 billion and is 27 percent higher than the same period last year.

Dean Fletcher, CEO of Corporate Trust EMEA at BNY Mellon said, "We expect the Gulf's Islamic finance industry to maintain its rapid growth. This expansion will be driven by ambitious projects in the region such as the 2020 World Expo trade convention in Dubai which will stimulate more demand for exhibition centres, transport networks and hotels. We are also seeing strong investor demand; the DIFCI Sukuk was over four times oversubscribed and priced at 185 basis points above the US dollar mid-swaps rate."

DIFC Investments LLC is the investment arm of the Dubai International Financial Centre which is a free zone that promotes the growth and development of financial services in the United Arab Emirates.