Acting as Cayman Islands counsel in Vakıf Katılım Bankası's US$1.5bn sukuk programme establishment

We have acted as Cayman Islands legal counsel to Vakıf Katılım Bankası A.Ş., one of Türkiye’s leading participation banks, in connection with the establishment of its new US$1.5 billion sukuk programme.

The sukuk was issued through Vakif Katilim Sukuk Program Ltd (a Cayman Islands incorporated company) and was listed on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market. Banks mandated include Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, HSBC Bank Plc and Standard Chartered Bank.

We acted as Cayman Islands legal counsel to Vakıf Katılım and Vakif Katilim Sukuk Program Ltd. Our team was led by partner Ciaran Bohnacker and senior associate Szymon Durlo and supported by our Walkers Professional Services team, headed by senior vice president Paul McGinness.

The team provided the administrative, registered office and directorship services to Vakif Katilim Sukuk Program Ltd, and Cayman Islands law advice and assistance to the parties. We continue to provide ongoing support from both the legal and administrative perspectives.

This new programme follows Vakıf Katılım’s highly successful US$500m Additional Tier 1 Capital Certificates issuance, which recently won Perpetual Sukuk Deal of the Year at the Islamic Finance News (IFN) Deals of the Year Awards 2026, with the firm having also advised on that issuance.

Commenting on the deal, Ciaran said: 'We are pleased to have once again supported Vakıf Katılım in strengthening its international capital markets presence, especially right after a productive trip to Istanbul last week.'

Szymon added: 'We look forward to contributing to the continued growth of Türkiye’s sukuk market and supporting other participation banks as they expand their global funding capabilities.'