Dubai Islamic Bank wins three Islamic Finance News Deal of the Year awards

  Bank receives accolades for landmark Mudarabah, Pakistan and Ijarah transactions

Dubai, UAE; March 4, 2015: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Islamic Bank in the UAE, announced today that it has won three awards at the prestigious Islamic Finance News (IFN) Awards 2015. The bank has been recognised for “Pakistan Deal of the Year” for a second year running; and the “Mudarabah Deal of the Year” and “Ijarah Deal of the Year” for the first time. Dr. Adnan Chilwan, CEO, DIB, collected the awards in the presence of senior bank executives at an exclusive gala dinner held recently at The Ritz-Carlton, DIFC.   

Established in 2006, the IFN Deal of the Year Awards recognise the leading global Islamic financial institutions that have participated in the industry’s most innovative and important transactions. Following a rigorous judging process, a panel of industry experts selects the most ground-breaking deals based on a set of robust criteria. For a second consecutive year, DIB has been selected for the “Pakistan Deal of the Year” for its $ 1 billion Sukuk Ijarah for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

It also received the accolade for “Mudarabah Deal of the Year” highlighting the bank’s role in arranging the USD$ 127.8 million Mudarabah facility for Empower, the world’s largest district cooling services provider, for the company’s landmark project in Dubai’s Business Bay. In addition, DIB was one of the joint lead arrangers on the USD$ 700 million Musharaka Fixed Rate Trust Certificates for DIFC Investments, for which the bank won the award for “Ijarah Deal of the Year”. 

Commenting on the awards, Dr. Chilwan, CEO, Dubai Islamic Bank said: “A key component of the bank’s stellar performance in 2014 has been relentless innovation. As an institution that is growing locally, diversifying and expanding globally, our products and offerings need continuous advancement. Given the relatively nascent nature of Islamic finance and the fact that DIB is known for adhering to its core ideology, this is clearly a challenging task.  However, our ongoing success at the IFN Awards reflects our unmatched position in this space with the bank having firmly established a peerless reputation across the globe for arranging complex financing facilities for governments and diverse corporations alike.”

Indicative of the bank’s commitment to this endeavor, in addition to arranging a variety of transactions for clients over the past year, the bank successfully priced and closed a $1 billion Tier 1 Sukuk in January, which opened 2015 debt capital markets in MENA and was the first perpetual issuance of the year. These deals highlight the ongoing potential of the global Sukuk market, which grew from $111.3 billion in 2013 to $116.4 billion last year, according to S&P. Despite volatility in the market due to fluctuations in oil prices, the market is anticipated to exceed $100 billion in 2015 as well.

Mr. Naveed Ali, Chief of Corporate Banking, Dubai Islamic Bank added: “Winning these awards highlights the success we had in arranging an impressive array of landmark Sukuk transactions last year for some of the biggest sovereign and non-sovereign entities. Our ability to carry out these deals across geographies, and sectors as diverse as financial services, utilities and real estate, displays the unrivaled capabilities of our team and our expertise in this space. We look forward to continue leveraging our balance sheet and our institutional relationships this year to help organisations across the UAE, and globally, access the financing they need to grow and prosper.”

These awards build on the recognition DIB has received over the years, including winning “UAE Deal of the Year”, “Kuwait Deal of the Year” and “Pakistan Deal of the Year” at the IFN Awards 2014. The bank also recently won the accolade for “Best Regional Commercial Bank – Middle East” at the Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2014.