Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Goldman Sachs on the issue of its landmark debut sukuk issue. The $500 million sukuk was met with strong demand from investors.

The sukuk is based on a wakala structure with the underlying assets linked to commodities. The sukuk has been approved by respected scholars Dr Mohamed Elgari, Dr Abu Ghuddah and Sh Nizam Yaquby.

Farmida Bi, head of Islamic finance, Europe comments:

“This is an exciting time for Islamic finance. The success of the UK Government’s sukuk issuance earlier in the year, followed by a positive reaction to Goldman Sachs’ sukuk, clearly shows that Islamic investors are of increasing importance to the international capital markets.

“The Goldman sukuk is likely to pave the way for future issuances by financial institutions and other corporate organisations.”

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Farmida Bi, and included senior associate Andrew Coote and associate Jordina Walker as well as Angela Savin advising on tax issues and Imogen Garner in relation to UK regulatory matters.