KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia is the top exchange in the world in terms of the value of sukuk listings last year of US$17.6 billion (US$1=RM3.32).

In a statement here on Monday, its chief executive officer, Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, said since its inaugural sukuk listing in August 2009, the bourse has listed 12 sukuk by end-December 2009.

He said despite the slowdown in trading activities and issuances in 2009, Bursa Malaysia has marked a new era for sukuk listings.

"Our achievement is reflective of Malaysia's significance in the world of Islamic capital markets," he said.

Yusli said Bursa Malaysia would continue to facilitate investors with the most conducive Islamic platform and would strive to remain in the leading position of sukuk listing worldwide.

"The positive commitment shown by market participants is a reflection of their confidence in the Islamic capital market underlined by a high level of governance and transparency, where issuers are provided with access to greater profiling opportunities on Bursa Malaysia," he said.

He said Malaysia has over 30 years of experience in Islamic finance and was the world's largest sukuk origination center driven largely by an investor-friendly regime as well as robust regulatory and syariah framework propelled by heightened promotional efforts under the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre initiative.

The first sukuk listing on Bursa Malaysia was registered in August 2009 with the inaugural US dollar-listing led by Petrolian Nasional Bhd's Al-Ijarah Sukuk and ringgit listing by Cagamas MBS Bhd Islamic papers.

In November 2009, GE Capital Sukuk Ltd issued its first foreign sukuk of US$500 million on the bourse.

December saw the listing of CIMB Islamic Bank's RM2 billion subordinated sukuk programme while Khazanah Malaysia listed its outstanding sukuk programme amounting to US$14 billion.