al khaliji Gold sponsor of Flagship Bonds, Loans and Sukuk Middle East conference 2015
Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji Q.S.C) recently participated as a Gold sponsor in this year’s edition of the flagship Bonds, Loans and Sukuk Middle East conference, one of the region’s largest corporate and investment banking events in the GCC region.
The conference was held in Dubai and saw the participation of over 900 senior delegates from top tier and leading financial institutions, industrial bodies and influential players discussing the latest developments in the regional bonds, loans and sukuk market.
Representing al khaliji at the conference, Paul Maguire, Head of International Banking Division, and Muhammad Jawaad Chawla, Head of Regional Corporate and Structured Finance joined a best-in-class speaker faculty formed of industry leaders in the field of Structured, Syndicated lending and Debt Capital Markets representing top tier International, Regional and Local financial institutions. al khaliji has gained industry recognition for underwriting, lead managing and arranging complex structured financings and syndicated loans for its preferred clients. Additionally, the bank is featured on a regular basis, in independent league tables, as one of the leading GCC banks in arranging syndicated debt for clients.
Leading a session titled “Pricing dynamics of GCC loans markets: Do rates truly reflect the cost of funds or underlying risk?”, Paul Maguire addressed issues ranging from the strength of the local economy in Qatar, current pricing of risk, and contemporary issues facing local and regional banks in driving the loan and capital markets.
For his part, Muhammad Jawaad Chawla addressed the panel topic ‘that refinancing outstanding liabilities (bonds, loans and sukuk) in the loan market makes more sense than refinancing in bond/sukuk markets’; wherein he indicated that both forms of debt raising have features that are attractive, for example, whereas bonds may be able to offer a wider investor base, loans can be closed with even a handful or ‘club’ of banks, have less onerous disclosure requirements compared to bonds and thus are considered to be relatively simpler to execute. Jawaad also commented on the difference between the depth of the loan and bond/Sukuk capital markets in the region, wherein loans are currently catering to the debt requirements of SME/Commercial Banking clients as well as bigger players, whereas bond/sukuk issuances have been more concentrated on Large Corporate / GRE issuers.
The sponsorship of this high profile conference provided an opportunity for al khaliji teams in Qatar and the UAE to network with peers in the market, as well as, to meet with the CEO’s, CFO’s and Treasury Managers from the Bank’s client base in Qatar and across the GCC. Across geographical borders, the al khaliji team provides a unified platform for all of its clients in identifying and providing innovative financial solutions leveraging off the strength of the al khaliji Group.
Since 2010, the Bonds, Loans and Sukuk Middle East conference has grown to attract over 1,300 yearly attendees from key decision and policy makers and top tier financial institutions. This year’s edition will build on the success of the previous ones, with 43% of attendees representing borrowers and issuers and 92 percent being at director level or above.
