Middle East

The Abu Dhabi based Emirates Motor Company (EMC) has closed a $175m loan that includes an Islamic component with four banks.

Omani oil & gas firm Renaissance Services sold a dual tranche dollar and Omani rial perpetual bond on Wednesday amounting to $125m.

Omani oil and gas firm Renaissance Services has sold a dual tranche dollar and Omani rial perpetual bond amounting to $125m.

Turk Eximbank closed a €500m loan on Tuesday with its novel two-year tranche proving popular with banks.

Akbank set a template this week that bankers hope Turkish peers will seek to emulate by closing Turkey’s first standalone three year term loan since 2006.

Turkey has made enormous strides since the turn of the century, recording a decade of growth and pushing through vast waves of reform. Now its main challenge is to inject enough fresh growth into an economy that shows signs of stalling. This will not be easy, especially now that the political outlook has become clouded following an unconvincing win for the ruling AKP party. Elliot Wilson reports.

In this round-up, Hong Kong deposits rose in April, but cross-border RMB trade settlement fell, Macau announced its March deposit figures, ICBC opened two new offshore branches in Montreal and Riyadh, RMB clearing in South Korea has reached a daily average of Rmb25bn, and Japanese bank MUFG helped Brazilian clients settle trade with China in RMB.

Bankers are preparing the ground for the first Turkish covered bond with both Akbank and Garanti Bank preparing extensive investor roadshows. Batuhan Tufan, head of funding at Garanti Bank, told The Cover on Tuesday that he is confident supply will sell. However syndicate bankers question whether issuance will fit more closely with emerging market, or covered bond investor portfolios. In any case pricing is expected to be wide of the sovereign.

With Middle East countries becoming increasingly important trade partners for China, the Gulf region is rapidly assuming a central position in the investment ambitions of Chinese corporates. But the links go both ways, with MidEast companies also stepping up their operations in China. Chris Wright looks at the two regions' growing links.

Turkish banks finally look set to become a feature of the covered bond market this year as Akbank lines up its first euro-denominated benchmark. The bank still needs to finalise its cross currency swap arrangements, a funding official told The Cover, but a deal could emerge in a matter of weeks not months.

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.

Moody's assigned a provisional rating to the Turkish Lira-denominated covered bonds of Akbank, raising hopes that the first such deal from the region will soon be seen.