Rising geopolitical tensions are increasingly playing out in the global debt markets, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Russia’s launch this week of the sale of a euro-denominated bond is just the latest example.
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Saudi Arabia will start auctioning real estate assets of billionaire Maan al-Sanea and his company on Dec. 2 to help repay billions of dollars due to creditors, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The auction, originally planned for late October in the city of Khobar in Eastern Province, was delayed by a last-ditch attempt to reach a settlement, which failed to gain enough support from creditors, one source said, Reuters reported.
The chief executive of oil giant Saudi Aramco said on Tuesday that bankers had not expressed any concerns about a recent rise in Saudi funding costs ahead of the company’s potential acquisition of a stake in petrochemical firm Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), Reuters reported. The cost of insuring against a Saudi sovereign default over the next five years touched 100 basis points last week for the first time since June, in a sign of how deeply the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has damaged sentiment toward the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s international bonds are underperforming lower-rated emerging market sovereigns, in a sign of how deeply the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has damaged sentiment toward the kingdom, Reuters reported. Rated A1 by Moody’s, A- by S&P and A+ by Fitch, Saudi Arabia has sold $52 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds since its first international issue in 2016, becoming one of the biggest debt issuers in emerging markets.
Saudi Arabia's first comprehensive bankruptcy law went into effect last month, one of many reforms to the legal system that economists say may be more important in the long run than high-profile privatizations, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 push to diversify the economy away from oil has grabbed attention for its big-ticket initiatives, such as a $500 billion business zone and a plan, now shelved, to sell part of the state oil firm.
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Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co. will seek to prevent Arab National Bank and another lender from claiming assets of the Saudi Arabian company to settle outstanding loans, according to its acting chief executive officer. Algosaibi will oppose the move because the assets are meant to be frozen by a royal decree to ensure all creditors are treated fairly, Simon Charlton said in an interview in Dubai, without naming the second bank, Bloomberg News reported.
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Credit Suisse Group AG plans to buy back about 5.9 billion francs ($6 billion) of debt issued after the financial crisis to the Qatar Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Olayan family to cut funding costs, Bloomberg News reported. The bank will redeem the contingent convertible bonds -- which automatically become equity when reserves fall below pre-set levels -- on Oct. 23, the first opportunity to do so, according to a statement from the bank on Tuesday.
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Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is primed to choose international banks to lend it $11 billion (€9.5 billion), filling the hole left by the delayed listing of state energy group Saudi Aramco and providing financing for crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious economic reforms, The Irish Times reported. The loans will be the first made to the Public Investment Fund, the vehicle used to drive the young prince’s vision for an economy less dependent on oil, which has placed bold bets on electric car maker Tesla, ride-hailing app Uber and space travel company Virgin Galactic.
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Saudi Arabia has called off both the domestic and international stock listing of state oil giant Aramco, billed as the biggest such deal in history, four senior industry sources said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The financial advisors working on the proposed listing have been disbanded, as Saudi Arabia shifts its attention to a proposed acquisition of a “strategic stake” in local petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp, two of the sources said.
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Saudi Arabia will introduce its first comprehensive bankruptcy law on Aug. 18 in a move designed to encourage foreign and domestic investment in private business, experts say. The move is also seen as providing a boost for competitiveness and jobs, and to help pave the way for the transfer of knowledge and skills as part of a drive to modernize the economy, Al-Bawaba reported.
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