Middle East

Turkey's banking regulator has increased the pressure on the country's banks to print new style subordinated bonds.

Sharjah has become the first CEEMEA issuer to brave the bond markets this year, mandating six banks for a Reg S-only dollar sukuk roadshow and defying sceptics who said earlier this week that Middle East issuance would be postponed as geopolitical tensions in the region escalated.

Low oil prices and the absence of its biggest lender will see the global sukuk market shrink further in 2016 though a couple of brand new issuers are expected, according to Standard & Poor’s.

Oman is finalising a $1bn sovereign loan and could sign as early as tomorrow (Thursday), according to a banker on the deal.

Options traders took Monday's oil volatility seriously, sending prices for near-dated contracts to some of the highest levels of recent months.

Kuwaiti petrochemicals firm Equate has signed $6bn of loans, with a range of lenders from different regions joining the five underwriting banks.

Turk Telekom has secured a $150m equivalent 10 year loan from two banks and the Canadian export credit agency (EDC), after loans to the telecommunications sector stalled in 2015.

Any hopes among European credit traders of easing back into 2016 with a peaceful first week were shattered from the outset on Monday, as spreads gapped wider due to China’s stock market woes and oil price volatility arising from Saudi Arabia’s new stand-off with Iran.

DenizBank, the Turkish bank, is to conduct a second capital increase, only a few months after finishing its last one — but main shareholder Sberbank is expected to maintain its near-100% stake.

Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility Public Warehousing Company is arranging its first loan since 2008, according to bankers.

Kuwait’s Burgan Bank is wrapping up a year of busy financing activity from Middle Eastern banks. It completed a $350m loan on Wednesday, increased from $300m.

Aegean Oil Terminal Corp, a Greek oil rig construction firm, has signed a $120m loan with four Gulf banks.