UAE Federal Government's Second Retail Sukuk Lists on Nasdaq Dubai
The five-year Shariah-compliant issue pays a 5.06% annual profit rate, matures in September 2031 and is open from AED 1,000 ($272.3).
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
The UAE's second retail treasury sukuk began trading on Nasdaq Dubai on Thursday, giving individual investors a federal government-backed Islamic security with an entry point of AED 1,000 ($272.3). Trading opened at 10 a.m. Dubai time under the symbol UAESUKUK0931.
The instrument runs for five years, carries an annual profit rate of 5.06% and matures in September 2031. Its issue size is AED 50 million ($13.6 million). It was issued by the UAE Federal Government Sukuk Program Ltd.
Key terms
- Symbol: UAESUKUK0931
- Annual profit rate: 5.06%
- Maturity: September 30, 2031
- Issue size: AED 50 million ($13.6 million)
- Minimum denomination: AED 1,000 ($272.3)
- Profit distribution: twice yearly, on March 30 and September 30
Profit payments and principal
Profit is paid semi-annually. On the smallest available holding of AED 1,000, that works out to about AED 25.30 ($6.89) every six months at the stated annual rate. The principal comes back at maturity on September 30, 2031.
The offering is Shariah-compliant and sits at a lower entry point than many institutional fixed-income products, which is what makes it a retail proposition rather than a wholesale one.
Selling before maturity
Because the sukuk is listed, holders are not committed to staying in until 2031. The Ministry of Finance said the security is listed and tradable on the secondary market after issuance, so investors have the option to sell before the redemption date.
The Dubai Financial Market said in a post on X that the listing widens the range of investments open to individuals and allows holders to trade on the secondary market.
Orders can be placed through the iVestor App or through Nasdaq Dubai's trading brokers. As with other exchange-traded fixed-income securities, the price moves as interest rates and market yields shift. An investor who sells early may therefore book a gain or a loss against what was originally paid.
Liquidity
Size matters. An AED 50 million issue is small by fixed-income standards, and trading volumes can shape how quickly an investor can buy or sell at a chosen price.
Widening retail access
This is the second retail treasury sukuk the federal government has issued. Both are intended to put government securities in front of individual investors and to deepen the country's Islamic finance market.
For savers, the instrument sits alongside ordinary deposits and other regulated investment products. The difference is that it trades, so its value can change before maturity in a way a bank deposit does not.
Holders who stay the course collect the semi-annual distributions and the return of principal in September 2031. Those who prefer to step out earlier have a secondary-market channel to do it, at whatever price the market is offering at the time.
