UAE's NBAD Issues YPY10 billion Samurai Bond

Abu Dhabi, July 13, 2011 (WAM) - The National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the Number One Bank in the UAE, has issued its inaugural yen-denominated samurai bond, the first ever by a Middle Eastern financial institution. NBAD's groundbreaking issuance of the 15-year, JPY10 billion (AED454.7 million, US$123.8 million) Samurai bond confirms NBAD's successful strategy in diversifying its funding sources and to extend its liability profile.
"We are very pleased to again be the market leader from the GCC in terms of our issuance platform and see this as a major breakthrough. This shows the commitment we have to our well publicised diversification strategy," said Stephen Jordan, the Senior Vice President and the General Manager of Liquidity Management '&' Interest Rates Product Group at NBAD's Financial Markets Division.
NBAD has taken several steps over recent years to enhance its Global Debt platform, including issuance of debt in Hong Kong dollars (HKD) and Malaysian ringgit (MYR), and recently established a Kangaroo platform for future potential issuance in Australian dollars (AUD) and New Zealand (NZD) currencies.
NBAD's samurai bond matures in 2026 and has a fixed coupon rate of 2.6%. Mistubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities and HSBC Securities Japan were the joint lead managers of the bond. A samurai bond is a yen-denominated bond issued in Tokyo by non-Japanese companies. - Emirates News Agency, WAM