Qatar

Qatar National Bank (QNB) launched a $3bn loan on Monday, the first real test of the market since Qatar’s Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) neighbours severed diplomatic ties with the sovereign. Nine banks have agreed to underwrite the full amount ahead of general syndication, showing initial fears have subsided. But the test is not over — will Qatar’s other relationship banks step up?

Two banks from the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) have turned to Taiwan to raise dollar funding already this year, with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) printing $540m and Qatar National Bank (QNB) printing $720m in Formosa trades.

Qatar National Bank has launched a $3bn loan with nine banks underwriting the facility.

Qatar’s Doha Bank extended a $575m loan that was scheduled to mature at the end of last year but it did not extend the whole amount as the deal's Chinese lenders pulled out.

UK and Chinese officials press ahead with London-Shanghai Stock Connect, China tops the October league table of foreign holders of US Treasuries, and Bank of China opens a new branch in Qatar.

Qatar National Bank has received interest from its relationship banks as well as new lenders from outside the Middle East for a loan refinancing, showing international lenders are no longer afraid of publicly showing their support for Qatari entities six months after its Gulf Cooperation Council neighbours severed ties with the nation.

Qatar’s banks have been turning to collateralised borrowing to boost liquidity after being all but shut out of the public debt markets since June, and the deals are proving mutually beneficial to both lender and borrower, with international banks able to continue to show support for 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.