GCC

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.

Bahrain is no closer to accessing the capital markets for additional funding following its support package from its Gulf neighbours agreed last week, according to local investors. And nor is the appointment of Lazard as an advisor to the country seen as a precursor to debt restructuring.

A new wave of liquidity and price crunching could hit Bahrain’s loan market once details of the country’s bailout from its GCC neighbours emerge, according to lenders from the region.

EA Partners II, the structured high yield bonds backed by loans to several airlines which are partners of Etihad, announced a note event of default on Friday, thanks to the low bids it received for loans to Air Berlin and Alitalia, both of which collapsed last year.

The Kingdom of Bahrain’s five year CDS spread has plummeted as investors’ fears of the country’s inability to meet the repayment of its $750m November 2018 sukuk began to recede after a statement of support from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

The Islamic Development Bank has been meeting investors and banks in Europe to explore the possibility of launching its first public sukuk issue in euros. A labelled green sukuk might follow.

The decision by MSCI to reclassify Saudi Arabia as an emerging market and the country's inclusion in its emerging market indices is a game changing moment for the kingdom in its attempts up to foreign investors. With the IPO of Saudi Aramco looming, investors are excited by the prospects these changes promise, writes Sam Kerr.

The FCA’s decision to modify rules in order to allow sovereign owned companies — such as Saudi Aramco — to achieve a premium listing should be seen as just another chapter in the UK’s cosiness with the House of Saud.

The Financial Conduct Authority is going through with its plan to create a new premium listing category for sovereign controlled companies, despite fears among investors and lawmakers that the move will weaken corporate governance standards in the UK.

Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic) has secured a multi-billion dollar export credit agency backed loan to finance construction of a $3.6bn integrated refining complex in its home country.