Amyal Islamic Leasing Fund received with great interest by the Market

Amyal Islamic Leasing Fund ("Amyal"), which was launched by Sharjah Islamic Bank ("SIB") last week has received much positive response from Investors and may be closed well before the end of the offering period, confirmed SIB officials.

Amyal is a feeder investment into Millennium Aircraft Leasing Company ("MALC") which is a Limited Liability Company incorporated in the Bahamas by Kuwait Finance House ("KFH"). MALC purchases new and used aircrafts which are leased to different airline companies. Since its formation, MALC has purchased 15 aircrafts which have been leased to reputable regional and international airlines under separate lease agreements with different lease terms.

Amyal’s targeted size is US$ 20.0 million, which is expected to be raised within the offering period, which started 2nd August 2005 and which closes on 1st of September 2005. However, this offering period may be shortened or extended at the discretion of the bank. Subscriptions are open for UAE Nationals, expatriate residents of the UAE as well as institutions based in the United Arab Emirates.

The investment period of the fund is expected to be about 4 years, during which returns between 7-8% p.a. are expected to be distributed to investors on a quarterly basis.

Mr. Hussein Al Qemzi, SIB’s CEO noted that, the fund comes in line with the bank’s commitment to continue providing value-adding investment products for the bank’s clients and general public. He also mentioned that this was in line with the bank’s intention to enhance its relationship with KFH as an important strategic partner.

Meanwhile, Nathif Adam, Head of Investments at SIB noted that "we will continue to build momentum in these kinds of transactions due to their ability to offer risk sharing and investment diversification possibilities for our client base."

It is noted that this Fund comes at the heels of Tharwa Islamic Equity Portfolio, which the bank launched last June and which closed oversubscribed last month.

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