Qatar

Doha Bank Qatar has sold a yen clip through MUFG, its first since June when the country became embroiled in a regional diplomatic spat. The trade is illustrative of a gradual return by investors to Qatari credits, said MTN bankers.

Four Qatari banks have been meeting investors with a view to printing bonds.

Qatar's banks face a wall of maturities in 2018 and need the door to capital markets funding to be flung open for them. But it does not have to be the Qatar sovereign that does the opening.

Qatar is preparing a non-deal roadshow at the start of December, according to two sources with knowledge of the state’s plans, with a $9bn bond in the offing.

If Qatar does go ahead with a bond, it needs to be the one being selective about which banks it will work with.

Investors are expecting a jumbo trade from the Qatari sovereign in the coming weeks, with money already shifting out of the borrower’s curve in preparation.

Emerging market loan bankers are used to a little political drama but the recent spat between the Saudi-led group of six Arab states and Qatar has caused doubts about whether to engage in deals with Qatari exposure. This stance is understandable for pure Qatari credits but the penumbra of uncertainty has now spread to entities at one remove from Qatar. Banks should not be put off lending.

Shares in Hapag-Lloyd, the German container shipping line, are holding up well as the subscription period for its €352m rights issue begins.

Dubai healthcare group Aster DM Healthcare has signed a $295m facility with banks from the UAE and India despite its expansion plans in scandal-hit Qatar casting some concerns over the syndication.

Qatari decision makers have worked hard over recent months to reassure the country’s partners and foreign investors about the country’s economic resilience, in the face of unprecedented strains created by the blockade imposed on June 5th by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain

The dispute between Qatar and six other Gulf states could curb its chances of plugging the country's banks’ funding needs through the syndicated loan market, leading bankers to believe more private arrangements may be the answer to the isolated gulf state’s woes. Bianca Boorer reports.

Qatar National Bank has secured $630m with a structured Formosa bond to prove it is still able to access funding despite the sensitives surrounding the Qatar crisis.