Saudi Arabia

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.

Saudi and Qatar look to be printing jumbo bonds this week, but the timing of both in the same few days after so many months of waiting is prompting chatter about which sovereign has caused the traffic jam and whether political machinations are behind it.

Saudi Arabia has had to scale back banks grappling to get on its $16bn loan, which will be used to refinance a $10bn loan taken out in 2016.

Saudi property developer Dar Al Arkan has tightened price guidance for its sukuk, with books for the deal hitting $1.1bn.

Dar Al Arkan has released initial price guidance for its dollar benchmark sukuk.

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Company has mandated eight banks to arrange a dollar benchmark five year sukuk.

Saudi Arabia has increased its loan from $10bn to $16bn as banks line up to join the facility, according to a statement from its Debt Management Office (DMO).

Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) became the second issuer from the Gulf to tap the offshore renminbi market this week, making this year already the biggest on record for Gulf renminbi bonds.

Saudi Arabia’s debt markets are open for business, the hiring charge is on and foreign banks are flooding in, but there has been a struggle to build a local force of primary bond market bankers, boding ill for the capital markets expansion the country is hoping for.