Sukuk structuring is the process of designing an issue of sukuk so that it meets Shariah requirements while giving investors a return and risk profile they will buy. The arranging banks, lawyers and Shariah scholars first choose the underlying contract, such as a lease, a sale with deferred payment like murabaha, a partnership or an agency arrangement under wakalah. The choice depends on what assets the issuer has, whether the certificates need to be tradable, and the tax and legal rules of the countries involved.
They then establish a special purpose vehicle to hold the assets on trust and issue the certificates, and draft the documents that govern periodic payments and redemption. A central decision is whether holders have real recourse to the assets, as in asset-backed sukuk, or only to the issuer's credit, as in asset-based sukuk. The structure must be approved in a fatwa before launch.