3 December 2023 - Dubai - The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB, the Bank) announced an industry collaboration with International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) on the sidelines of the COP28 in Dubai.

The three parties will work to develop a practitioners’ guide on the issuance of Sukuk (Islamic bonds) in line with the Green Bond Principles and Sustainability Bond Guidelines as published by ICMA (the Principles). This will support the growth of green and sustainable finance within the global market for Sukuk by providing issuers and other market participants with guidance on how Sukuk may be labelled as Green or Sustainability in line with the Principles through examples, case studies and best practice.

The guidance will also help to improve investors’ awareness of Sukuk as an asset class in the global fixed income markets.

H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, President of IsDB stated, “We are fully committed to industry-level engagements to promote Islamic capital markets and Sukuk (Islamic bonds) in particular. I am very pleased to see this initiative taking shape with our industry partners for the benefit of the wider global capital markets.”

Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy CEO of ICMA said: “ICMA welcomes the opportunity to coordinate the work to produce a practitioners’ guide for Green and Sustainability Sukuk. Through alignment with the Principles, we believe the guide will help ensure global consistency in the international capital markets of voluntary best practices in sustainable finance”.

Julia Hoggett, CEO, London Stock Exchange, commented: "Together with IsDB and ICMA, we are charting a path towards a more sustainable future. We believe that this collaboration will enhance the awareness of Sukuk as an asset class in the global fixed income markets and accelerate progress towards climate and sustainability goals worldwide.”

IsDB is a AAA-rated supranational and multilateral development financial institution with 57 Member Countries and a mandate of delivering sustainable socio-economic development in Member Countries and Muslim communities worldwide.

ICMA promotes well-functioning cross-border capital markets, which are essential to fund sustainable economic growth. It is a not-for-profit membership association with offices in Zurich, London, Paris, Brussels and Hong Kong, serving around 620 member firms in 66 jurisdictions. Among its members are private and official sector issuers, banks, broker-dealers, asset managers, pension funds, insurance companies, market infrastructure providers, central banks and law firms. It provides industry-driven standards and recommendations, prioritising four core fixed income market areas: primary, secondary, repo and collateral and sustainable finance. ICMA works with regulatory and governmental authorities, helping to ensure that financial regulation supports stable and efficient capital markets. 

LSEG is a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider, playing a vital social and economic role in the world’s financial system. LSEG are leaders in data and analytics; capital formation and trade execution; and clearing and risk management with trusted expertise and global scale, working in partnership with customers.