FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ISI EMERGING MARKET’S ISLAMIC FINANCE INFORMATION SERVICE (IFIS) RELEASES HALF YEARLY RESULTS ON ISLAMIC BONDS MARKET
Islamic Bond Market Continues to show positive Growth, Attracting more Players and Innovative Products – 474% growth from Q1 to Q2

London, UK, July 7, 2005 - IFIS, the first professional strength information service designed to meet the unique requirements of Sharia compliant finance industry participants, today released 2005 half year results for its global coverage of the Islamic bond market.

"IFIS embodies the type of services that is essential for the continued development of the Islamic financial market globally. The IFIS Islamic league tables would serve as a guide to all users of Islamic finance as to who's who and leaders in the market. I commend and congratulate Euromoney for their successful launch of the Islamic League Tables.", said Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, Head of Malaysia's CIMB Islamic, the Islamic finance franchise of the biggest investment banking group in South East Asia.

According to IFIS Analysts, the Islamic bond market for 1Q 2005 was $1.08 billion with 12 issues. The market has since grown in Q2 to $6.2 billion with 26 issues marking a 474% increase over the previous period.

At year end 2004, the Islamic bond market size was US$6.7 billion. “At this pace we expect 33% market growth in this sector by the end of 2005”, said IFIS Product Manager, Rakiya Sanusi.

Factors contributing to the growth of the market include:
• Increased liquidity due to rising oil prices
• Increased sophistication of and appetite for Shariah compliant instruments
• Innovation from Islamic financial institutions and Shariah scholars, who in order to cater for the jump in demand are putting more efforts into new product research and development

Governments and Regulators in various countries now promote Islamic banking and are developing regulatory frameworks that specifically address the Islamic financial system.

The Islamic finance market’s growth reflects a shift from conventional to Islamic modes of investments. Data compiled by IFIS points to an increased flow of investor funds targeting Shariah compliant opportunities in Europe, the Gulf, Middle East and Asia. Also, new players such as Emirates Airlines and Dubai Metals & Commodities Centre have come into the market. Many of the International bonds issued are attracting investors from Europe, US, Asia, Middle East, and the Gulf.

Some highlights for 2005 include:

• Emirates Airlines, $550 Million sukuk, the first-ever Islamic sukuk issued by an Airline
• Dubai Metals & Commodities Centre (DMCC) unveiled a gold-linked Islamic financing, a first ever type of Shariah compliant financing. The DMCC sukuk allows investors to receive payment in gold bullion or US dollars
• ABC Islamic Bank’s Al Safeena Sukuk was the first Islamic bond ever issued for the shipping sector
• The World Bank’s (IBRD) $200 Million Islamic bond was the biggest Islamic bond in Ringgit to be issued by a supranational in the Malaysian capital markets; ABN AMRO and CIMB were joint Lead managers
• Two sovereign Islamic bonds have been issued - Government of Pakistan ($600 Million) and Government of Bahrain (BD30 Million)
• The Islamic Development Bank has just issued its second sukuk for $500 Million, with HSBC and Deutsche Bank as book runners. CIMB was the only Lead manager selected from Asia for this issue. The issue saw a massive 57% participation from Asian investors including Japan, which makes it the first global sukuk by a sovereign or supranational to be majority placed outside of the Middle East and Europe. The Issue also marked the first time that an issuance programme, similar to an EMTN programme, has been established for Islamic bonds
• The Government of Malaysia has indicated that they will issue another global sukuk this year
• Time Engineering’s Musharaka Capital One sukuk, is said to be the world's first rated Musyarakah Asset Backed Securitization (ABS) deal, and the first domestic Musharaka Sukuk in Malaysia. This deal was arranged by CIMB

Malaysian Islamic Bonds have topped the IFIS league tables in terms of issues being traded. CIMB maintains a lead in this market and recently made an international debut in the International market as the sole Lead Manager from the Far East. The Bank was also Lead Manager for the Islamic bond issued by the International Finance Corporation and International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (i.e. World Bank).

Outlook for the rest of the year:

“There appears to be a robust pipeline for the balance of 2005” said IFIS Product Manager, Rakiya Sanusi.

Arcapita’s US$200 Million sukuk which has been fully underwritten by Standard Bank and West LB AG is expected to be issued by mid July. The 5-year multicurrency murabaha-backed sukuk may be denominated in US dollars, Euros and Pound Sterling.

ABC Islamic Bank have launched and are currently marketing the Al Dar Investment US$ 50 Million Sukuk issue. Once issued it is said to be the first fully private sector Musharaka sukuk.

SABIC, Saudi Arabia have announced an Islamic bond that will be denominated in Saudi Riyal, and will be marketed in Saudi Arabia. HSBC Amanah are advisers.

Many of the International bonds issued to date have been oversubscribed due to high demand. According to Iqbal Khan, CEO HSBC Amanah, “The Sukuk market has seen encouraging growth this year in terms of number as well as total value of transactions. We are seeing a lot more corporates, particularly from the GCC, turning to the Sukuk market for their financing needs. We believe there will be exponential growth in this segment of the market over the next five years and HSBC Amanah is committed to playing a significant part in this growth.”

About IFIS
IFIS (Islamic Finance Information Service www.securities.com/ifis) is an information service designed to meet the unique requirements of Sharia compliant finance industry participants. IFIS is a single stop resource for investigating market opportunities in the world of Islamic finance. Using proprietary tools and research, IFIS delivers information on:
• League Tables for Islamic bonds, Deals & Transactions detailing structure of issues, issuers, term sheets and conditions etc.,
• Islamic financial Guidelines and legal content from Regulatory bodies;
• Rankings of the top industry players
• Database on Top global law firms involved in Islamic finance.
• Shariah Rulings, Financial Market information, current news, events, academic and research papers
• IFIS E-Weekly Overview
• Much more……

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