IFC client Tamweel PJSC, a provider of innovative Islamic housing finance products and services, issued Dubai's first residential mortgage-backed securitization in July 2007. IFC worked in close collaboration with the Emirates National Securitization Corporation, the first securitization company in the UAE and the company that was appointed to structure the deal that will help develop housing finance and capital markets in the Middle East and North Africa.
IFC's $20 million investment supported Dubai's first residential mortgage-backed securitization issue based on Shariah-compliant financing. It also supported ENSEC's strategy to expand to other Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries across the region, and to build its expertise in the sector. The project was hailed as the best "Islamic Finance Deal of the Year" by Euromoney last month.
The award by a leading financial publication endorses Tamweel's leadership in innovative transactions. IFC's $20 million investment supported the first multi-tranche, mortgage-backed securities deal to be issued from the United Arab Emirates and based on Sharia-compliant financing.
Housing finance is a key focus for IFC in Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as it helps develop capital markets, enhances access to long-term financing, and makes home ownership more affordable in the region. IFC's role as a structuring investor helped Tamweel obtain an important alternative source of funding as well as a Sharia-compliant, fixed-income investment product for its international and GCC-based investors.
The groundbreaking transaction will serve as a guide for other originators of mortgage assets in the region. It will also help improve the legal and regulatory framework for domestic asset-backed securitizations.
For additional information contact:
Lotte Pang
Phone: +1 202 758 4290
E-mail: lpang@ifc.org
or
Riham Mustafa
Phone: +202 2 461 9150 ext. 306
E-mail: rmustafa@ifc.org
Published on April 1, 2008
