Allen & Overy and Linklaters have advised on the Hong Kong government’s issuance of sukuk, or Islamic bonds, which raised $1 billion.

The issuance is the second time the Hong Kong government has tapped the Islamic finance market, after it raised $1 billion from its inaugural sukuk issuance last September.

Allen & Overy represented the Hong Kong government on the issuance, with a team led by capital markets partners Yvonne Siew in Hong Kong and Ken Aboud in Singapore.

A Linklaters team led by Hong Kong partners Andrew Malcolm and Kevin Wong advised the joint bookrunners and joint lead managers, which included HSBC, Standard Chartered, CIMB and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

“This was the first issuance of sukuk using a wakalah structure out of Hong Kong and needed to be structured carefully to ensure the correct tax treatment under Hong Kong regulations, while continuing to comply with Shariah principles,” said Linkaters’ Wong, in a statement.

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