Middle East Bonds

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank is roadshowing a dollar benchmark Reg S additional tier one sukuk as the call date for its outstanding tier one approaches in October.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FADB) appeared in the Swiss franc market on Thursday, selling five year bonds in an arbitrage driven transaction.

Emerging market borrowers and investors are returning from the summer break slowly but surely this week, but caution is still the prevailing tone.

It has been a dreadful August in emerging markets, but borrowers still have cash to raise and, despite the violent swings in secondary market levels, investors will have cash to put to work when the UK bank holiday has passed.

It’s been a turbulent summer in emerging markets, but borrowers in the Middle East in particular are already eyeing their return to the market.

Berlin property company ADO Properties had planned to issue its second corporate bond in recent weeks, following a successful investor update. However, a high profile bribery case in Israel has put the deal on hold for now.

Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund that invests for the government of Saudi Arabia, is seeking global bank lenders for a debut loan.

HSBC has appointed Gareth Thomas as head of global banking for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. He starts in the new job in September.

There is a sense that banks in the Middle East are being encouraged to pledge allegiance in the public bond markets to either Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates or to Qatar, as the diplomatic tensions between the two sides rumble on. But in the MTN market it is becoming clear that no such division exists.

MUFG announced this week that it has appointed a new international head of credit sales and trading.

Frontier markets specialists Exotix Capital has made four new appointments to its EM sales business, expanding its coverage in four different geographies.

Bahraini sovereign bonds fell victim to “malicious rumours” this week after they took a further battering following headlines that Lazard had been appointed as an adviser to the country. The firm, which advises on debt restructuring among other things, was in fact appointed in early May and has been advising the country on its economy for several months, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. Virginia Furness and Michael Turner report.