Key Takeaways
- • Akin Gump secured six awards at the Global Banking & Markets: CEE, Central Asia & Türkiye Awards 2026, including Islamic Finance Legal Adviser of the Year for the second consecutive year, cementing its regional leadership in Sharia-compliant capital markets.
- • The firm advised on five landmark sukuk transactions totaling $3.75 billion in aggregate issuance value across diverse sectors: Emlak Konut ($650M real estate sukuk), Türk Telekomunikasyon ($600M corporate sukuk), Vakıf Katılım Bankası ($500M Additional Tier 1 capital certificates), Türkiye Wealth Fund ($600M Murabaha facility), and TPAO ($1B inaugural issuance under a $4B program).
- • Akin's award-winning transactions include multiple first-of-their-kind issuances: the first Turkish real estate investment trust sukuk, the first telecommunications company sukuk from Türkiye, the largest subordinated sukuk by a Turkish participation bank, and the largest corporate sukuk completed in Türkiye by a public economic enterprise.
- • Capital markets partner Rizwan Kanji leads Akin's Islamic finance practice, which has positioned the firm as the go-to legal adviser for complex, structurally innovative Sharia-compliant financings in the CEE, Central Asia, and Turkish markets.
- • The ceremony presentation is scheduled for November 25, 2026, in Istanbul, underscoring Türkiye's emergence as a critical hub for Islamic capital markets in the region.
Summary
Akin Gump has captured six honors at the 2026 Global Banking & Markets Awards covering Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Türkiye, with particular distinction in Islamic finance advisory services. The firm's Islamic Finance Legal Adviser of the Year award marks the second consecutive year of this recognition, reflecting sustained excellence in advising on complex, cross-border Sharia-compliant transactions across the region.
Led by capital markets partner Rizwan Kanji, the Akin team's recognition extends across five specialized sukuk and Islamic financing categories. The firm advised Emlak Konut Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı, Türkiye's leading real estate investment trust, on a $650 million debut international sukuk issuance of lease certificates due 2031—the first-ever sukuk offering by a Turkish REIT, listed on the London Stock Exchange's International Securities Market. In the corporate sukuk category, Akin represented Türk Telekomunikasyon A.Ş. on its inaugural $600 million senior unsecured lease certificates due 2030, representing the first sukuk issuance by a Turkish telecommunications company and employing a structurally novel approach previously untested in the jurisdiction.
The firm's financial institutions advisory work earned recognition for advising Vakıf Katılım Bankası on a $500 million Additional Tier 1 capital sukuk issuance—the largest subordinated sukuk offering by a Turkish participation bank at the time of issuance. In the Islamic syndication category, Akin advised Türkiye Varlık Fonu (Türkiye Wealth Fund) on a $600 million five-year unsecured commodity Murabaha facility. The quasi-sovereign category award recognized the firm's work on TPAO's (Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı) landmark transaction, which included establishing a $4 billion trust certificate issuance program and an inaugural $1 billion lease certificates issuance—the first sukuk by a Turkish public economic enterprise and the largest corporate sukuk completed in Türkiye.
These transaction mandates collectively demonstrate Akin's deep technical expertise in Islamic finance structuring, regulatory navigation, and capital markets execution across multiple sectors and issuer types within the region. The award ceremony is scheduled for November 25, 2026, in Istanbul.
Led by capital markets partner Rizwan Kanji, the Akin team's recognition extends across five specialized sukuk and Islamic financing categories. The firm advised Emlak Konut Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı, Türkiye's leading real estate investment trust, on a $650 million debut international sukuk issuance of lease certificates due 2031—the first-ever sukuk offering by a Turkish REIT, listed on the London Stock Exchange's International Securities Market. In the corporate sukuk category, Akin represented Türk Telekomunikasyon A.Ş. on its inaugural $600 million senior unsecured lease certificates due 2030, representing the first sukuk issuance by a Turkish telecommunications company and employing a structurally novel approach previously untested in the jurisdiction.
The firm's financial institutions advisory work earned recognition for advising Vakıf Katılım Bankası on a $500 million Additional Tier 1 capital sukuk issuance—the largest subordinated sukuk offering by a Turkish participation bank at the time of issuance. In the Islamic syndication category, Akin advised Türkiye Varlık Fonu (Türkiye Wealth Fund) on a $600 million five-year unsecured commodity Murabaha facility. The quasi-sovereign category award recognized the firm's work on TPAO's (Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı) landmark transaction, which included establishing a $4 billion trust certificate issuance program and an inaugural $1 billion lease certificates issuance—the first sukuk by a Turkish public economic enterprise and the largest corporate sukuk completed in Türkiye.
These transaction mandates collectively demonstrate Akin's deep technical expertise in Islamic finance structuring, regulatory navigation, and capital markets execution across multiple sectors and issuer types within the region. The award ceremony is scheduled for November 25, 2026, in Istanbul.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.