Saudi Arabia

Islamic Development Bank is preparing a return to the sukuk market, picking banks for a roadshow for a dollar benchmark.

Emerging market bonds are still under pressure from macro factors, but investors have plenty of capital markets business to keep an eye on as the pipeline, particularly in the Middle East, swells with deals.

The postponement of the Saudi Aramco's IPO is just the latest blow to emerging market (EM) equities. Volatility is biting ever harder, taking lumps out of an ever dwindling autumn pipeline. Sam Kerr reports.

The Saudi Capital Markets Authority has approved a resolution allowing NCB Capital to raise funds for a new Saudi ETF, linked to the MSCI index, via an IPO.

Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund that invests for the government of Saudi Arabia, is seeking global bank lenders for a debut loan.

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.

Some 10 months after the eruption of the Gulf diplomatic crisis last summer, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have proved that the market is big enough for both of them, printing $11bn and $12bn deals respectively, and garnering a combined book exceeding $100bn.

Banks are preparing to finance Saudi Arabia’s first utility-scale wind power project, at Dumat Al Jandal in the northern province of Al Jawf.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia printed its $11bn bond on Tuesday, which several bankers and investors thought had been timed to maximise disruption of Qatar’s return to market, which is also expected this week. But leads said the modest size taken by Saudi from a $50bn book showed that there was no intention of throwing the capital markets into disarray.