Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Islamic bank in the UAE, has been awarded “Best Sukuk House” at the EMEA Finance Middle East Banking Awards 2017 for the second successive year. The tenth edition of the EMEA Finance Middle East Banking Awards took place at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai recently and celebrated the regional banking industry’s top achievers.

Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Group CEO Dubai Islamic Bank attributed the award to not only the bank’s own prowess in the sector but also the strong performance of the global Islamic capital markets in the recent past. “2017 saw nearly USD 100 billion of Sukuk issuances up by 45% compared to 2016, driven primarily by large issuances out of the GCC countries. The recovery in oil prices has led to a significant improvement in liquidity across the region with capital markets witnessing a sharp rebound underpinned by rising sovereign issuances.”

The UAE continues to be a leading sukuk market raising more than USD 30 billion during 2017, up by 35% compared to the previous year and representing around 30% of the GCC Bonds and Sukuk market issuances in 2017. The increase can be attributed to its rising global reputation as a more transparent and investor friendly destination for issuers across diverse sectors.

DIB continues to maintain its strong leadership position in the Islamic syndicated financing space as the top bookrunner in the EMEA region. In the USD international sukuk market, DIB has also made significant progress over the past few years, with a sharp climb in league tables rankings and outpacing all of the other Middle Eastern institutions.

In addition, the bank remains a prolific issuer itself with many successful deals over the years. With the recent successful pricing of USD 1 billion DIB sukuk, the bank is now the largest sukuk issuer amongst financial institutions in terms of listing on Nasdaq Dubai.

 “We have remained amongst the leading institutions within the Islamic capital markets space during the year 2017, being part of major deals in key sectors with around USD 9 billion of sukuk transactions and more than USD 7 billion of syndicated deals,” added Dr. Chilwan. “During the year, DIB was instrumental in successfully arranging and executing transactions for sovereigns, supranational agencies, corporates as well as financial institutions. As a leading Islamic bank in the UAE, our commitment to innovation and progression of the sector remains unabated.”

This is the 3rd award that DIB has been recognized for since the start of 2018, and is a reflection of the Bank’s commitment, dedication and support to the progression and development of the Islamic finance industry worldwide.