Funding diversification across the Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC ) and Asean countries, as well as in Egypt, Türkiye and Pakistan, is likely to support Islamic syndications activity, according to a new report.
The GCC region remains the largest source of issuance, but Asean is increasing its presence in the market. Islamic banks are likely to maintain their appetite for syndicated financing, supported by still-adequate liquidity and their significant role in banking systems in most core markets, Fitch Ratings says in the report published on November 4.
Japanese and Chinese banks are also becoming important lenders in GCC conventional syndications, with some participation in Islamic syndications, as they seek greater exposure to the region and strengthen client relationships. However, geopolitical tensions and higher funding costs could weigh on the activity.
“Islamic syndications activity is likely to remain supported by funding diversification needs and Islamic banks’ continued appetite across core markets,” says Bashar Al Natoor, global head of Islamic finance at Fitch Ratings. “Asean is gaining share through larger transactions, especially in Malaysia and Singapore, but the GCC remains the dominant market. Participation by many Fitch-rated Islamic banks and multilaterals should remain supported by still-adequate liquidity and broadly resilient credit profiles.”
In core markets, reported Islamic syndications issued in January-September 2026 amounted to US$48.1 billion, up 5% year on year, while conventional syndications fell 20%. The Islamic share of total syndicated issuance reached above 28%, up from 22.8% in the first nine months of 2025.
The reported global Islamic syndications outstanding exceeded US$221 billion, according to Fitch, up 11% from the same period a year earlier. Saudi Arabia had the largest share with 37%, followed by the United Arab Emirates ( 31% ), Egypt ( 7% ) and Bahrain ( 5% ). By sector, industrial firms had the largest share with 50%, followed by financial companies ( 18% ) and electric utilities ( 14% ). Only UAE firms issued ESG Islamic syndicated loans this year from the GCC.
Islamic syndications typically carry longer tenors than sukuk, ranging from around one year to 40 years, with an average of 14 years. By currency, the US dollar held about 55% of global Islamic syndicated outstanding, followed by Saudi riyals ( 18% ) and UAE dirhams ( 12% ).
In Q3 2026 alone, GCC issuers dominated the global Islamic syndications issuance with 73%, mainly from the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Dubai Islamic Bank debuted with a three-year US$750 million senior unsecured commodity murabaha term facility.
Boubyan Bank of Kuwait raised US$300 million through an Islamic syndicated facility, with the participation from large Chinese and Brunei banks. Saudi Energy Company secured murabaha financing amounting to US$4.1 billion.
In Asean, the share of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia rose to 23%, from 7.7% in the same period last year. IOI Marina View, a Singapore-based real estate developer, secured an Islamic term financing facility from Singapore banks amounting to S$1.73 billion ( US$1.3 billion ).
DayOne, a Singapore-based data centre developer, announced a 5.5 billion ringgit ( US$1.36 billion ) murabaha facility from a bank consortium to finance its Malaysian expansion. Digital Nasional of Malaysia also announced an Islamic term financing amounting to 5.2 billion ringgit.
