U.A.E. Bond-Issuance Freeze Spurs Calls for Deeper Reform - Bloomberg

U.A.E. Bond-Issuance Freeze Spurs Calls for Deeper Reform - Bloomberg:



"The United Arab Emirates market regulator implemented measures in June to help ignite domestic debt sales. Since then not a single borrower has issued the bonds.



To spur sales, the country needs to increase sovereign issuance to provide a benchmark for other borrowers and ensure institutional demand for the debt by reforming pension and insurance funds, according to Abdul Kadir Hussain, who oversees about $1.2 billion as chief executive officer of Mashreq Capital DIFC Ltd.



Without a developed domestic bond market the U.A.E., the Arab world’s second-biggest economy, will leave borrowers with few alternatives to bank loans. As many as 15 mostly publicly-traded companies have expressed an interest in issuing bonds and sukuk since the rules were published, the country’s Securities and Commodities Authority, or SCA, said this week. That interest has yet to translate into firm sale plans."



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