GCC

State-owned holding company Investment Corp Dubai (ICD) is looking to refinance a loan maturing in June.

The Government of the Emirate of Sharjah has mandated five banks for a benchmark dollar sukuk — its first note in that market for over two years, though it did sell a Panda bond as recently as last month.

Qatar National Bank and Bank of China kept the momentum going in the offshore renminbi bond market this week, with the latter’s Rmb4bn ($632m) deal the largest in nearly three years. Their success is an encouraging sign about appetite for the currency.

Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest bank by assets and capital, has named leads for a five year dollar note.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) kept the momentum in the offshore renminbi bond market going with a new issuance on Tuesday, showing there is still appetite for the currency.

First Abu Dhabi Bank raised $650m with its market return on Monday, as Gulf Corporation Council financial supply continued with Union National Bank.

After a three week wait, First Abu Dhabi Bank has deemed the market constructive enough to open books on its new five year sukuk, and had crushed the spread to 4bp over its existing bonds on Monday.

Saudi Arabia’s debt markets are open for business, the hiring charge is on and foreign banks are flooding in, but there has been a struggle to build a local force of primary bond market bankers, boding ill for the capital markets expansion the country is hoping for.

QInvest’s head of debt capital market and financial institutions has left the bank earlier this week.

It could be a clash of the Abu Dhabi banking titans as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is updating its MTN programme — a possible precursor to a bond issue — while First Abu Dhabi Bank is poised with a trade.

Bank Sohar, the Omani bank, is expected to sign an oversubscribed three year loan for $300m by the end of February. Demand for the facility has been high from international banks despite the country’s rising budget deficit.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) has picked up $2.38bn of bonds via private placements (PPs) in the last fortnight. But the size of the deals are such that they would have been better printed as public Eurobonds.