Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (PRWEB) January 14, 2010 -- Bursa Malaysia topped the world's exchanges in terms of value of sukuk programme listings in 2009, recording a total of USD17.6 billion. Since its inaugural sukuk listing in August 2009, the Exchange listed 12 sukuk by end of December 2009 which contributed towards this development.

Dato' Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia said, "Despite the slowdown in trading activities and issuances in 2009, Bursa Malaysia has marked a new era of sukuk listings. Our expedient achievement is reflective of Malaysia's significance in the world of Islamic capital markets. Bursa Malaysia will continue to facilitate investors with the most conducive Islamic platform and will strive to remain in the leading position of sukuk listing worldwide."

He added that 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 the access to greater profiling opportunities on Bursa Malaysia.
The first sukuk listing on Bursa Malaysia was registered in August 2009 with the inaugural US Dollar (USD) listing led by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) Al-Ijarah Sukuk and Ringgit Malaysia (RM) listing by Cagamas MBS Bhd (Cagamas MBS) Islamic papers.

In November 2009, GE Capital Sukuk Ltd issued its first foreign sukuk of USD500 million on the bourse.

December 2009 saw the listing of CIMB Islamic Bank's RM2 billion subordinated sukuk programme while Khazanah Malaysia listed its outstanding sukuk programme amounting to USD 14 billion.

Malaysia has over 30 years experience in Islamic finance and is the world's largest sukuk origination centre driven largely by an investor-friendly regime, as well as a robust regulatory and Shariah framework propelled by heightened promotional efforts under the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative.

About Bursa Malaysia
Bursa Malaysia Berhad is a public company limited by shares under the Companies Act 1965. Bursa Malaysia is an approved Exchange holding company under Section 15 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007. Other companies in the Bursa Malaysia Berhad Group of companies include a stock Exchange, a derivatives Exchange, an off-shore international financial Exchange, equity and derivatives clearing houses, a central depository, an information services provider and an Information Technology services provider.

Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, is an approved stock Exchange under Section 8 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.