Dubai: The government of Tunisia along with Bourse de Tunis and Nasdaq Dubai have set up a task force to pave the way for Tunisia’s first issuance of a Sukuk, Nasdaq Dubai said in a statement.
The task force is considering commercial, legal and regulatory issues including Sharia-compliance, so that Tunisia can create a solid framework for capital-raising through selling Islamic bonds to domestic and international investors, the bourse said in an emailed statement.
Nasdaq Dubai, the Middle East and North Africa region’s (Mena’s) international financial exchange, is providing the task force with global expertise, as the world’s largest exchange for Sukuk listings.
Tunisian members of the task force include the Head of Government’s Office, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Development, Central Bank, Financial Market Council and Bourse de Tunis.
“The task force will work speedily and thoroughly to help us create robust infrastructure for Sukuk issuance that will give the government and Tunisian private sector a valuable new tool for raising capital. Tunisia’s entry into the Sukuk sector will promote international and domestic investment and confidence in our economy that will help to fund our national growth and development,” Bilel Sahnoun, Chief Executive Officer of Bourse de Tunis, said.
“Tunisia’s commitment to issuing Sukuk will play an important role in the continuing global expansion of the sector, as more countries and more investors make use of its benefits as an effective Sharia-compliant capital markets tool,” Hamed Ali, Chief Executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said in a statement.
A recent meeting of the task force discussed legal and regulatory matters as well as challenges that will be faced by first-time Sukuk issuers and how they can be overcome.
