Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), Japan's largest lender, will issue Islamic bonds in two tranches under its debut multicurrency sukuk wakala programme in Malaysia, a statement on the Malaysian central bank's website said on Wednesday.
BTMU will issue $25 million in a U.S. dollar tranche and 2.5 billion yen ($22.9 million) in a yen tranche today, the statement said. Both sukuk issues will have maturities of one year; the statement did not give other details such as pricing.
Malaysia's CIMB Investment Bank is managing the issues.
BTMU, part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, set up a $500 million multicurrency sukuk programme through its Malaysian unit in June, aiming to become the first Japanese commercial bank to tap the sukuk market.
Big international conventional banks are showing increasing interest in tapping Southeast Asian and Gulf funds through the sukuk market. Goldman Sachs raised $500 million with its debut sale of sukuk earlier this month, while France's Societe Generale set up a sukuk programme in Malaysia this year.
