Middle East Bonds

First Gulf Bank, the third largest bank by assets in the UAE, is meeting investors in Europe next week regarding a possible Eurobond.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi printed its $750m five year bond on Wednesday from a book of $1.8bn, having been successful in attracting emerging market and investment grade accounts despite tight pricing flat to the curve.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi has released initial price thoughts for a five year dollar benchmark at 90bp over mid-swaps, equating to only around a 10bp pick-up from the secondary trading of its August 2019s.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) is meeting investors this week to offer an update on its recently announced financial results. A senior dollar bond may follow.

African sovereign sukuk issuance could grow in the next two years, Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME) believes. But other analysts predict only one or two Africa sovereigns will follow South Africa into the international sukuk market.

Egypt is preparing to follow Tunisia’s landmark return to the international bond market as investors shrug off conflict in Syria and the oil price’s collapse to regain appetite for Middle Eastern credits. Underscored by this week’s $1bn deal, confidence in the region has rebounded to levels last seen before the Arab Spring in 2011, writes Virginia Furness.

Republic of Tunisia made its standalone return to the capital markets on Tuesday with its first non-agency guaranteed bond since the Arab Spring.

Simon Putt has left Saudi Arabian Al Rajhi Capital where he had been head of DCM since April last year.

First Gulf Bank has hired Giuseppe Ruggiero from National Bank of Abu Dhabi to head its debt capital markets business.

First Gulf Bank has hired Giuseppe Ruggiero from National Bank of Abu Dhabi to head its debt capital markets business.

Dubai based International Airfinance Corp (IAFC) has signed its first purchase agreement as manager of a Shariah compliant aircraft leasing fund (ALIF). The $2bn deal puts the fund well on the way to its $5bn target.

Azeri bankers are hoping that the country will have new Islamic finance legislation in place as early as the first quarter of this year. The new law would pave the way for International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) to launch a planned sukuk, which is likely to be backed by the bank's ijara portfolio, an IBA official told IFIS.