The Ashurst Islamic finance team has advised Gatehouse Bank, the latest Islamic bank in the UK to be granted an FSA licence, as arranger and dealer on the establishment of the US$1 billion Milestone Capital PCC Sukuk programme and the inaugural issue under the programme.

Having now successfully completed the first Sukuk issue under the platform, the bank is now seriously considering increasing the programme limit significantly. The programme, enables Gatehouse to raise funds for itself or clients from the Islamic capital markets. The programme has a unique structure that allows for maximum flexibility as to the underlying Shari'ah structure used for each issue under the programme.

Abradat Kamalpour, Islamic finance partner at Ashurst said:

"The economic climate has escalated the appeal of Islamic finance as an alternative model in both regional and international financial markets. We anticipate this trend to continue going forward. The Milestone Capital platform is very timely in that it allows investors access to Shari'ah compliant funds at transparent and attractive prices. The structure utilised for the platform gives the institution maximum flexibility as to the underlying Shari'ah compliant structure that they want to use for each issue. This is an extremely unique feature that appeals to many in the market."

Adil Hussain, General Counsel of Gatehouse Bank said:

"We are extremely pleased to have the one billion dollar Milestone Sukuk platform in place and to have completed the first issue under the programme so successfully. We have many plans for the platform. The platform has a very flexible architecture in terms of the underlying Shari'ah structure that can be used for each issue. This enables us to provide a cost efficient and tailor made service to our clients. It was a pleasure to work with the Ashurst Islamic finance team on this transaction. "

Milestone Capital PCC is a Jersey based orphan protected cell company and the Milestone programme is listed on the Channel Island Stock Exchange.

Ashurst has a dedicated team of prominent Islamic finance lawyers that advise financial institutions in relation to a full range of Shari'ah compliant products including sukuk, Islamic derivatives, murabaha, musharaka, structured products, Shari'ah funds and Shari'ah project finance transactions.