Turkish Islamic lenders Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi and Albaraka Turk have applied separately to issue Islamic bonds, or sukuk, according to Turkey’s Capital Markets Board.

Turkiye Finans, a sharia-compliant lender which has a focus on loans to corporate clients, has applied to raise up to 1.5 billion lira ($513.2 million) through its wholly-owned unit, TF Varlik Kiralama.

No tenor or details of underlying assets were given for the deal, which could be sold as a public offering or to qualified investors.

Last month, sources told Reuters that Turkiye Finans was planning a dollar-denominated sukuk to bolster its supplementary capital.

Albaraka Turk, a unit of Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group, has also applied to raise up to 1 billion lira through its asset-leasing company, Bereket Varlik Kiralama.

Earlier this month, Albaraka Turk mandated banks for an Islamic syndicated loan with a total initial amount of $400 million.

The bulk of sukuk issuance in Turkey has come from the government and the country’s Islamic banks, known as participation banks, although corporate issuance is also growing. ($1 = 2.9229 liras)

Source: Reuters