Middle East’s best Islamic structured finance house 2026: Emirates NBD Capital
As Islamic finance continues to expand beyond traditional products and markets, Emirates NBD Capital stands out for its ability to apply Shariah-compliant structures to increasingly complex financing challenges.
Rather than simply delivering scale, the firm demonstrated how Islamic financing techniques could be adapted across sectors, geographies and borrower requirements – from bespoke credit-enhanced murabaha facilities and sustainability-linked instruments to first-time sukuk structures for digital industries.
That structuring capability was supported by one of the region’s largest Islamic financing platforms. In 2025, Emirates NBD Capital’s Global Loan Solutions platform arranged $115.3 billion across 112 primary transactions, with 31% of deals incorporating a Shariah-compliant tranche. The firm placed first across Bloomberg’s MENAT, GCC and Turkey borrower loans bookrunner league tables, and second globally in Bloomberg’s Islamic financing bookrunner rankings.
Rather than simply delivering scale, the firm demonstrated how Islamic financing techniques could be adapted across sectors, geographies and borrower requirements
One of the clearest demonstrations of its capabilities was Vision Invest’s $650 million Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI)-compliant syndicated murabaha term facility. Acting as sole coordinator, joint bookrunner, initial mandated lead arranger, investment agent, calculation agent and custodian, Emirates NBD Capital structured a five-year financing solution with bespoke credit enhancements to support the Saudi infrastructure investor’s project pipeline. Although unsecured, the facility incorporated “margin-like” mechanics, with publicly listed shares held under custody arrangements subject to margin calls and enforcement remedies through a tailored tripartite agreement.
The firm also helped expand the boundaries of Islamic capital markets through Türk Telekom’s inaugural $600 million sukuk – the first international corporate sukuk from Turkey. As joint global coordinator, bookrunner and sukuk structuring bank, Emirates NBD Capital evaluated alternative structures before selecting a manafae format aligned with Türk Telekom’s business model, using broadband and data services as underlying assets. It also supported regulatory engagement in Turkey to secure approvals for the new structure.
Sustainable finance innovation
Sustainable Islamic finance was another area of innovation. Emirates NBD Capital acted as global coordinator, initial mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, global and murabaha structuring bank and documentation agent on Aldar Properties’ AED9 billion sustainability-linked revolving facility – the largest syndicated sustainability-linked financing by a Middle Eastern real estate company. The transaction integrated Shariah-compliant structuring with sustainability targets linked to Aldar’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives.
The firm also acted as joint sustainability structurer, joint lead manager and bookrunner for the $500 million sustainability-linked financing sukuk by Emirates Islamic, which forms part of the Emirates NBD Group. Marking the world’s first sustainability-linked financing sukuk, the transaction incorporated ESG principles into an Islamic capital markets structure, broadening the range of tools available to Shariah-compliant issuers.
Beyond individual transactions, Emirates NBD Capital continued to support the development of Islamic finance by advising clients on green, social and sustainability-linked frameworks, use-of-proceeds structures, ESG key performance indicators (KPIs) and sustainability performance targets.
The firm’s success in 2025 reflected a broader shift in Islamic finance: from providing alternative funding products to delivering sophisticated, customised solutions capable of addressing complex corporate, infrastructure and sustainability objectives. Through its combination of structuring expertise, regional connectivity and international distribution, Emirates NBD Capital helped demonstrate the increasing depth and flexibility of modern Islamic finance.
