A US$600 million Malaysian sovereign Islamic bond (sukuk) issue was listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday, the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA), or central bank, announced.

It said a listing agreement between the two countries was signed by BMA deputy governor Khalid Abdullah al-Bassam, who is also vice chairman of the BSE, and Ooi Sang Kuang, deputy governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysia's central bank.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the official inauguration Wednesday of the Bahrain branch of Malaysia's Maybank by the Bahraini and Malaysian finance ministers, the central bank's statement said.

The Malaysia Global Sukuk is the first Malaysian bond issue to be listed on a stock exchange in the Middle East region, it said.

The sukuk, a floating rate note, was issued in July 2002 and matures in

The listing brings to a total of 13 the number of bond issues listed on the BSE. The face value of the listed bonds is nearly two billion dollars. - AFP