GCC

In this round up, China cross-border RMB trade settlement hits new historical record in March, Hong Kong sees a 31% increase in RMB clearing in the same month, the Moscow Exchange sees record RMB/RUB FX swaps turnover, CCB is launching new subsidiaries in five overseas markets, and RMB clearing officially launches in Malaysia and Qatar.

The sixth offshore RMB clearing bank appointment of the year was unveiled on Tuesday, when the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced that it had picked Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Doha Branch as the renminbi clearing bank for Qatar. The move is the first such appointment in the Middle East and follows similar announcements this year in London, Frankfurt, Seoul, Paris and Luxembourg.

Bahrain began a roadshow this week to gauge demand for a conventional dollar deal. Analysts expect its borrowing needs to rise sharply in order to stem a growing fiscal deficit, but this worrying trend could also turn some investors away.

Taqa, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Co, made a dazzling entry into the international capital markets this week, pricing the largest ever straight bond issue from the Middle East — a three-tranche blowout totalling the equivalent of $3.5bn that pulled $10bn of demand.

IPIC is talking to banks about a $640m eight year syndicated loan. It approached around 15 lenders early in August for first round commitments, and is likely to put together a club of eight banks within the next two weeks.