Jeddah,1.2.2010: The Islamic Finance News has awarded the IDB Singapore dollar 200 million Sukuk issued in September 2009 the “Cross Border Finance Deal of the Year”. The Singapore dollar Sukuk was issued by IDB under its Medium Term Note (MTN) Program of US$ 1.5 billion under which an international Sukuk of US$ 850 million was issued last year. Both the Sukuks were rated AAA by the three rating agencies namely, S&P, Moodys’ and Fitch. This rating was in line with IDB’s AAA rating given by the fore-mentioned rating agencies.

According to the Islamic Finance News, IDB’s Singapore dollar Sukuk transaction benefited from changes introduced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in July 2009. MAS’s new rules expanded the types of securities which financial institutions (subject to MAS’ regulation) may hold as part of their minimum liquid assets with the central bank. This change meant that such financial institutions can now buy/repo Singapore dollar-denominated securities issued by any AAA rated supranational (like IDB), sovereign or sovereign-guaranteed company with the central bank.

IDB’s Singapore dollar Sukuk transaction is considered to be an important milestone in the development of the Singapore Sukuk market. It is the first Singapore dollar-denominated Sukuk issued by a foreign issuer as well as being the largest Sukuk issue to date in the Singapore market. The issuance of this AAA rated security helped IDB to diversify its funding resources.