Al Rajhi Bank closes over $1 bln Murabaha crowdfunding finance

Waleed Al-Mogbel CEO of Al Rajhi Bank

Al Rajhi Bank succeeded in closing a three-year Murabaha crowdfunding finance in line with corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards of over $1 billion, CEO Waleed Al-Mogbel said. Accordingly, the bank has become the world’s first Islamic financial institution to close a Shariah-compliant, sustainable crowdfunding (use of proceeds).

This process is the Middle East’s biggest syndicated loan in line with Shariah and ESG practices. The funding process received strong turnout in global and regional markets. Al Rajhi Bank succeeded in increasing the finance from the initial amount with the participation of 13 global investors from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East in the historical deal.

The finance aims to boost liquidity levels at the bank, which will be positively reflected on its overall operations, Al-Mogbel added.

Al-Mogbel was delighted at the success of the financing process, where HSBC Bank and SMBC Group participated as sustainability and issuance lead managers. He also thanked the financial institutions participating in the crowdfunding, pointing that their participation reflects the high confidence that local and international financial institutions have in the bank in terms of the size of operations, market share and solid balance sheet.