Qatar

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has picked banks for a senior Reg S sukuk, and kicks off investor meetings this week.

Istanbul Airport — Yapi Kredi — Ezdan

Qatari real estate firm Ezdan has signed a $500m Islamic finance loan with Mashreqbank acting as sole lead.

Persian Gulf equity markets have so far failed to win a boost from last year’s inclusion of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar into the world’s main emerging market index, as well as the more recent opening up of the Saudi Exchange to foreign investors, market participants have said.

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.

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.

The sixth offshore RMB clearing bank appointment of the year was unveiled on Tuesday, when the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced that it had picked Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Doha Branch as the renminbi clearing bank for Qatar. The move is the first such appointment in the Middle East and follows similar announcements this year in London, Frankfurt, Seoul, Paris and Luxembourg.