BNP Paribas Najmah is the Islamic Finance division of the Group.

• It covers Islamic banks.


• It services business lines of the bank in offering Islamic products to their clients.

BNP Paribas was among the leading banks in recognizing the importance of Islamic Banking. Active in the industry since the early 1980s, it established BNP Paribas Najmah in 2003 in the Kingdom of Bahrain as a global entity with the mission of providing Islamic solutions within its chart of excellence worldwide.

In 2005, BNP Paribas received the Euromoney's award for Best Islamic Finance House. This nomination recognizes BNP Paribas Najmah's achievements in Islamic Project, Corporate Finance & Corporate Banking. In addition, it acknowledged the creative solutions BNP Paribas Najmah has developed first in Sukuk, Equity Derivatives, Asset Securitization, Credit Derivatives and Structured Murabaha, putting one of the largest Islamic offerings on the map.

Combining its capabilities with its Sharia'a expertise, BNP Paribas offers a broad range of high added value Islamic investment products, bringing new and innovative solutions to its clients' specific needs.

BNP Paribas, a pioneer in Islamic Banking

BNP Paribas, active and seen as a pioneer in this domain since 1985, by being one of the first to structure Murabaha deposits, and later in 2006 , by introducing an innovative Islamic Certificate Programme, enabling BNP Paribas to provide a wide range of underlying assets and pay-offs, in a streamlined manner, to a larger Islamic investor base.

In this respect, BNP Paribas has developed strong credentials along the years.

Investment:

• 2007:1st islamic ETF on Global Equities: EasyETF is the first Sharia Compliant Exchange Traded Fund on the global Index. As an indexed Fund, it aims to reproduce as closely as possible the performance of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Total Return, a benchmark index providing access to companies that are Sharia compliant. EasyETF DJ Islamic Market Titans 100 enables investors to benefit at reduced costs from immediate exposure to 100 worldwide stocks, with wide geographic and sector representation.


• 2006: Islamic Certificate Programme: BNP Paribas has introduced an Islamic certificate programme specifically dedicated to issue Islamic instruments. The programme is considered a milestone to the development of Islamic investment structured products where it provides a wider range of underlying assets and pay-offs.


• 2006: Equity optimizer: BNP Paribas Islamic Fund - Equity Optimiser is an open-ended equity fund optimising a major Islamic index (Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index) retaining only high-dividend-paying stocks among the world's largest global companies. The activities of the fund are compliant with Islamic Principles and controlled by a Sharia Supervisory Committee.


• 1999: Faysal Shield FundFaysal Shield Fund: First Equity linked Capital Protected Fund.


• 1996: Caravan FundCaravan Fund: BNP Paribas launched one of the first Islamic Global Equity Fund.


• 1985: First Murabaha Deposits / Lending structured providing Islamic banks with short-term liquidity placement / lending opportunities.

Financing:

• 2007: MTC: BNP Paribas was mandated by the Kuwait-based Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC (“MTC”) to act as a Bookrunner alongside 3 other banks, - for a USD 2.5 bn 1+1 year non-recourse Murabaha Islamic Bridge Facility for the acquisition of the 3rd GSM license in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”) which was recently awarded to a consortium led by MTC.
• 2007: NSCSA: BNP Paribas acted as a Mandated Lead Arranger, Security Agent and Documentation Bank Bookrunner to close a USD 438 Mio Syndicated Islamic Ship Finance Facility to finance the acquisition of six Large Crude Carriers for the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA). This is the first structured shipping deal for BNP Paribas structured under Islamic Finance and the first Islamic structured deal for NSCSA. It is considered by NSCSA as a benchmark for future syndicated Islamic ship facilities.
• 2007: MOBILY:BNP Paribas acted as Joint Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner, BNP Paribas has contributed to raise for Etihad Etisalat Company ("Mobily") a USD 2.8 bn facility based on a Murabaha Islamic Financing Structure. This facility is considered as a headline transaction on the Syndicated Loan Market within the GCC for 2007.
• 2007: SAAD: BNP Paribas has completed the second largest bond issue in Saudi Arabia for Saad Trading Contracting and Financial Services Company (STCFSC). BNP Paribas acted as sole Bookrunner for this USD 650 million, 5-year Sukuk issue. This transaction is the first Sukuk issued in Saudi Arabia for a private business and illustrates the growing interest in the Sukuk market.
• 2005: Dolphin US$1 billion Istisna'a & Ijara facility. BNP Paribas takes a leading role by acting as Mandated Lead Arranger and Documentation Bank in this strategic transaction. This represents the largest Islamic financing deal ever in the energy sector.
• 2004: Etisalat (Saudi Arabia) appointed BNP Paribas as a financial advisor to raise US$2.35 billion to finance the cost of the license. BNP Paribas successfully raised the funds in 3 weeks from being mandated. This makes this Islamic loan not only the largest Islamic loan ever in the MENA region, but the largest Islamic financing ever in the world at that time.


• 2002: Al Hidd Project: The Al Hidd transaction (Bahrain), lead arranged by BNP Paribas, proved a milestone for the region. It was the first time a transaction of this nature successfully integrated an Islamic tranche into a financing package also containing an export credit agency covered tranche.

Sharia'a Compliance

All BNP Paribas Islamic products and investments are Sharia'a compliant and are reviewed and approved by our distinguished in-house Sharia'a Supervisory Committee(SSC).