BNY Mellon has been appointed transfer agent, delegate, principal paying agent, registrar and Irish listing agent on a sukuk deal issued by Asya Sukuk Company Limited.
It is the first Turkish bank sukuk internationally placed where the obligor is an entirely Turkish-owned company, BNY Mellon says. The sukuk certificates are guaranteed by Bank Asya, Turkey’s largest participation bank. The inaugural issuance is for $250 million and have a 7.5% per annum yield.
BNY Mellon will perform fiduciary duties and make profit and principal payments to investors on behalf of Asya. It will also handle administrative duties related to the issuance of the certificates.
“This is a groundbreaking transaction because it is the first ever international Tier 2 sukuk issue,” says Giambattista Atzeni, senior relationship manager for the MENA and Turkey, Corporate Trust, at BNY Mellon. “Sukuk deals offer Turkish participation banks an efficient means of raising capital internationally. We are seeing the evolution of more and more Islamic compliant products in Turkey, which is fast emerging as an active venue for Islamic financing.”
Tarek Elrefai, CEO of Global Client Management for the Middle East and Africa at BNY Mellon, adds: “Turkey is a key growth market for us and we’ve seen a rise in the number of deals we are closing there in the past two years. This transaction is a sign of the ongoing deeper collaboration between Turkey and global markets. We hope that this deal will provide a template for other participation banks in the region.”