Nomura Holdings is playing a major role in the milestone release of the first US dollar denominated sukuk issued out of Malaysia.

The Japanese firm has appointed Kuwait Finance House as lead arranger for the proposed issuance of a two-year Sukuk al-Ijarah worth $100 million under the framework of issuance of foreign currency denominated bonds and sukuk in Malaysia. The agreement was signed by key officials from Nomura, the Securities Commission of Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia.

KFH has been involved in sukuk issuances for companies in diverse industries worldwide in past 30 years. Sukuk al-Ijarah is designed to target investors from the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and London. The product is also expected to eventually be offered to Nomura's clients in over 30 countries.

"With this landmark transaction, Nomura has further diversified its funding sources and tapped the large and growing Islamic finance market for the first time," said Takumi Shibata, the deputy president and chief operating officer of Nomura Holdings, in a statement.

"Islamic investors and Islamic finance are a very important and rapidly growing sector globally. Nomura has now opened the way for other Japanese corporations to tap the Islamic finance market," added Shibata.

Islamic finance has proven itself resilient at the height of the global crisis, leading more investors to consider it as an alternative option to grow their wealth. In Asia, Malaysia has been in the running toward becoming an international hub for Islamic finance.