The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) listed two bonds with a total worth of $1 billion on Nasdaq Dubai. Each bond is worth $500 million. The bonds listed on the exchange are the highest value of conventional bonds by a foreign issuer.
According to local media reports, the total value of bonds listed on Nasdaq Dubai by the ICBC reaches $4.56 billion from nine issuances. All the bonds were issued by the Chinese bank’s branch in Dubai.
The two bonds were listed on October 17, 2019. The listings reflect the financial and economic relationship between Dubai and China. China is the UAE’s largest non-oil trading partner. Nasdaq Dubai is the international financial exchange in the Middle East. ICBC is the world’s largest bank by assets.
Earlier this month, DP World listed a $500 million sukuk and a $500 million conventional bond on Nasdaq Dubai. DP World is a global port operator formed by Dubai Ports Authority and Dubai Ports International. It is also the UAE’s largest debt issuer by value with sukuk and conventional bond listings totalling $9.09 billion, the media reported.
Another bank that listed sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai is Kuwait’s Warba Bank. The Kuwaiti lender listed $500 million sukuk on the exchange this month. It is the second Islamic bond to be listed by the lender, after the listing of a $250 million instrument in March.
Shaheen Al-Ghanem, Chief Executive of Warba Bank, told the media that, “The Sukuk attracted investors from the GCC, the wider MENA region and beyond, underlining the confidence of the market in Warba Bank’s dynamic expansion strategy in business sectors including investment, corporate and retail banking.”