Bahrain-based Unicorn Investment Bank, which operates in accordance with Islamic law, said it is arranging Islamic bond sales worth $2 billion.

"We have several transactions in the pipeline," chief financial officer David Pace said, confirming a $2 billion figure reported in Bahrain's Al-Ayam newspaper, citing Unicorn chief executive Majid Al-Refai.

"We certainly do have deals of that magnitude," Pace said, declining to give further details.

Refai said the bonds, or sukuk, would be sold in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Al-Ayam reported. Some $400 million would be sold in Kuwait soon, the paper said, without giving details about the sellers.

Sukuk comply with an Islamic ban on the receipt of interest. Instead, returns are derived from underlying physical assets, such as property, paying rent or other returns to bondholders.-Reuters