Jordan’s Capital Bank lists $100m bond on Nasdaq Dubai

The Capital Bank of Jordan has listed a $100m perpetual AT1 bond on Nasdaq Dubai.

The bond is the first issuance of its kind for a Jordanian bank on the exchange. To mark the listing, Rima Shaban, the bank’s head of Private Banking and Wealth Management rang the market opening bell at Nasdaq Dubai on Thursday.

“This indicates the close ties between the capital markets of UAE and Jordan, creating a template for other Jordanian and regional institutions to utilise the expertise and infrastructure Dubai offers. A number of leading corporate and sovereign debt issuers have chosen to list on Nasdaq Dubai, which shows their confidence in the market,” said Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and Dubai Financial Market, regarding the bank’s issuance.

Dubai was reportedly chosen for the listing due to its role as the largest listing venue in the Middle East for US dollar-denominated debt listings. In 2021, Nasdaq Dubai had 30 listings of sukuk and bonds totaling $23.1bn and a record-breaking 14 bond issuances valued at $ 11.2bn, up 141 per cent compared to 2020.

Capital Bank of Jordan celebrates the listing of USD 100 million perpetual AT1 bond on Nasdaq Dubai. This #bond is the first issuance of its kind for a Jordanian bank on the region’s international financial exchange. https://t.co/bhhJNtLaHJ pic.twitter.com/0WoWnukq7t

— Nasdaq Dubai (@NasdaqDubai) March 3, 2022

Dawod Al-Ghoul, CEO of Capital Bank, explained that the bank plans to use the proceeds of this issuance to support its capital base, noting that it will serve to propel the group’s expansion plans, particularly following the opening of the first branch of the National Bank of Iraq in Saudi Arabia. “It also flows in direct harmony with our ongoing and far-reaching digital transformation plans, epitomised by the recent introduction of Blink, our flagship digital banking platform that just launched in Jordan and will soon debut in Iraq,” said Al Ghoul. This issuance, added Al Ghoul, came within the requirements of Basel 3.

Capital Investments was the sole manager of this bond issuance, with legal counsel offered by Simmons & Simmons to the issuer and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to the manager, in cooperation with Jordanian legal consulting firm Obeidat, Tarawneh, and Kurd, according to news agency WAM.

In a recent major listing on the exchange, Dubai Islamic Bank listed a $750m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai. The 5-year new sukuk issuance was part of DIB’s $7.5bn Sukuk Programme.

Read: Dubai Islamic Bank lists $750m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai