Turkey

Vakifbank has found competitive funding with a privately placed covered bond, its second of the year, sold via sole lead manager Credit Suisse, even though the publicly syndicated Turkish covered bond market has been closed for some time.

The Turkish sovereign’s third bond of the year, a sukuk, was priced with no new issue premium on Wednesday, paving the way for Türk Telekom to come to market.

The Republic of Turkey has tightened price guidance for its three year sukuk to 5.9% area, with books for the deal in excess of $3.5bn.

Turkey has picked banks for its third benchmark of the year and its first since 2017 to be issued using sukuk documentation. Bankers say another Turkish borrower could mandate before the end of the week.

Akbank is kicking off the first set of refinancings of the year for Turkish banks, launching its syndication with a smaller volume and tighter margins than last year’s deal. But lenders are divided on whether the deal represents an achievement for the Turkish bank, or betrays an outlook festooned with risk. Mariam Meskin reports.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Isbank will become the property of the country's finance ministry, in what a US-based investor said he saw as a 'further consolidation of Erdogan power'.

The hopes of emerging markets participants were proven well founded on Wednesday when US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell walked back from the aggressive trajectory of rate hikes he had previously suggested.

Georges Elhedery will be moving from Dubai to London in order to take up a new role as head of global markets at HSBC. He replaces Thibaut de Roux, who reportedly left in September after an accusation of inappropriate conduct.

Turkey hit screens for a quick trip to the euro market to sell its second bond of the year on Thursday, and managed to slice 25bp from its yield.

The Republic of Turkey on Thursday returned to the capital markets for the second time this month, launching a €1.25bn six year bond and taking advantage of a recent buying spree in the country’s bonds.

The Republic of Turkey has returned for a bond in euros after the $2bn note it sold earlier this month rocketed in value.

Emerging market investors are enjoying an excellent start to the year in the secondary market, but primary supply has not maintained its strong start to the year. Bankers and investors are confident that issuers will get moving soon though.