Wethaq Launches First 'fintech' Sukuk on Its Market Infrastructure Using SWIFT gpi Link

DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wethaq announced that it has issued the first pilot Sukuk on its securities market infrastructure for the Islamic capital markets under the supervision of the Dubai Financial Services Authority on Sunday, 17^th November.

Al Ghurair Investments LLC (AGI) acted as the issuer, advised by Mashreqbank PSC acting as lead arranger, R3 as protocol provider, Clifford Chance as legal counsel and the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre as mentor.

There is substantial demand for Sukuk issuances globally with a significant number of them offered out of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). This pilot issuance demonstrated how Sukuk issuances can become more accessible with the application of financial technology to the issuance process which is, at present, manual, non-standardised and fragmented.

Wethaq consolidates and automates the agency and infrastructure services required in the entire lifecycle of Sukuk product while enabling transaction participants and their service providers to interact more efficiently through digitized workflows.

Wethaq's fintech infrastructure is developed on R3's Corda Protocol integrating SWIFT payment and settlement functionality through SWIFT gpi Link and, as a result, integrates with incumbent market infrastructures and avoids digital currencies and 'tokenisation' of securities. By using gpi Link, Wethaq will be able to seamlessly integrate SWIFT's global payments innovation (gpi) service into its platforms, opening itself up to more than 3,500 banks around the world using the service.

The session was opened by Bryan Stirewalt, Chief Executive of the DFSA, who said that: "The DFSA's Innovation Testing Licence (ITL) programme is successfully encouraging and enabling innovation in the DIFC. Wethaq's pilot issuance is a great example of this effort and a great example for the future of Islamic finance. Innovation is pushing the boundaries of financial services through these new technologies as we witness their integration into existing and evolving business models."

Mohammed Alsehli, CEO of Wethaq (Capital Markets) said that: "We are pleased to have achieved this milestone under our Innovation Testing Licence from DFSA with the generous support of the DIFC ecosystem. We are one step closer to releasing our infrastructure to the market and facilitating the Islamic capital market to reach its 4x growth potential."