Qatar’s QNB secured a $2.5 billion syndicated loan, with half the commitments from Asian banks, as lending growth outpaced deposits. UAE lenders intensified deposit competition, while Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank sought AED 1.75 billion ($476.5 million) in additional equity following rapid asset growth. The International Monetary Fund warned that prolonged Middle East tensions and rising sovereign yields could increase economic and financing pressures. Banque du Caire’s proposed 30% share offering would reduce state ownership, with proceeds going to parent Banque Misr rather than funding the bank’s expansion. Read more on the week’s key developments: 1. QNB secures $2.5 billion syndicated loan with strong Asian lender participation Qatar’s QNB Group announced on 11 October the successful syndication of a $2.5 billion senior unsecured term loan facility, attracting commitments from 25 international and regional banks. The transaction was twice oversubscribed, with nine Asian banks contributing approximately $1.25 billion in commitments, equivalent to half the facility. DBS, HSBC, ICBC, Mizuho and Standard Chartered served as initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners. The borrowing comes as QNB’s lending portfolio expands faster than its deposit base. In the first nine months of 2026, loans and advances increased 6% year-on-year to approximately QAR 1.06 trillion ($291 billion), while customer deposits grew 2% to QAR 979 billion ($269 billion). Net profit rose 4% to QAR 13.3 billion ($3.7 billion). QNB said the facility would be used for general corporate purposes and that participation from banks across several jurisdictions helped broaden its lender base. 2. Banque du Caire revives flotation plans with 30% share offering Banque du Caire announced on 11 October its intention to offer 30% of its issued share capital on the Egyptian Exchange through the sale of 4.575 billion existing ordinary shares held by Banque Misr, according to Arab Finance’s report citing an emailed bank release. The proposed offering comprises a private placement for qualified institutional investors in Egypt and internationally, alongside a public offering for retail investors in Egypt. The offering is expected to be completed towards late October, with trading beginning in November, subject to regulatory approvals. The offering revives a long-delayed plan to bring the state-owned lender’s shares into public trading. It comes as Egypt seeks to accelerate state divestment and attract private investment, following the IMF’s call in July for faster implementation of its privatisation programme. As a secondary offering, the sale will generate proceeds for Banque Misr rather than new capital for Banque du Caire. 3. ADIB advances AED 1.75 billion rights issue following strong asset growth ADIB announced on 12 October the timetable for its rights issue, following shareholder approval on 6 October and receipt of regulatory clearances. The bank plans to issue up to 106.4 million new shares at AED 16.45 ($4.48) each, raising approximately AED 1.75 billion ($476.5 million). Eligible shareholders registered on 2 November will receive one tradable subscription right for every 34.14 shares held, allowing them to buy additional shares or sell their rights. Subscriptions are scheduled for 10–24 November. The fundraising follows a period of balance-sheet expansion, with ADIB’s assets reaching AED 304 billion ($82.8 billion) at the end of June 2026 after growing 24% during 2025. The issue price represents a 28.8% discount to the bank’s closing share price on 24 August. ADIB said the additional equity would support expansion of its core businesses and investment in digital and AI capabilities while maintaining its capital strength under Vision 2035. 4. UAE banks intensify deposit competition as lending growth outpaces funding UAE banks are competing more aggressively for deposits as credit expansion places greater demands on funding, according to MUFG’s 12 October research report. The report described banks offering promotional savings rates above the Central Bank of the UAE’s 3.9% base rate as competition for customer balances intensified. MUFG reported that bank lending rose 18.1% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, compared with deposit growth of approximately 14%, pushing the loan-to-deposit ratio above 80% from 77.7% in 2025. It said liquidity remained within regulatory comfort levels, but sustained credit expansion and higher deposit costs could pressure funding margins and profitability, particularly if capital inflows remained subdued. 5. IMF warns Middle East conflict could prolong inflation and financing pressures The International Monetary Fund projected global growth of 3.1% in 2026 and 3.4% in 2027 in its World Economic Outlook released on 13 October, while forecasting global inflation of 4.7% this year, largely reflecting higher energy and food prices. It warned that persistent or escalating tensions in the Middle East could keep those prices elevated, adding pressure on growth and inflation. It also warned that economies’ room to absorb further shocks was narrowing, with rising sovereign bond yields adding to financing risks. The IMF urged governments to rebuild fiscal space amid high debt and increasing borrowing costs, while keeping support for households temporary and targeted. Monetary policy should reflect each country’s exposure to war-related disruption. 6. Saudi Real Estate Refinance launches second mortgage-backed securities transaction Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), owned by the Public Investment Fund, launched its second domestic residential mortgage-backed securities transaction, according to Argaam’s 12 October report. The securities are backed by a mortgage portfolio worth approximately SAR 420 million ($112 million), originated by six financing entities. The transaction received the highest Saudi national-scale structured-finance ratings from Fitch and Moody’s. The transaction follows SRC’s first residential mortgage-backed securities issuance in August 2025. By purchasing mortgage portfolios and packaging them into securities for investors, SRC helps banks and financing companies replenish funds for further housing lending. The publicly disclosed ratings add an independent assessment of credit quality on Saudi national scales, helping institutional investors evaluate this developing asset class. 7. Bahrain trade-finance registry gains National Bank of Bahrain as first participant Bahrain’s BENEFIT Company announced at Fintech Forward 2026, which concluded on 8 October, that National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) had become the first participating bank and anchor banking partner in its Trade Finance Registry project. The initiative is being developed with MonetaGo and Bahrain FinTech Bay to strengthen checks against fraudulent or duplicate financing of trade documents. BENEFIT will operate the shared registry, MonetaGo will provide the technology and Google Cloud will supply cloud infrastructure. Participating banks will be able to cross-check invoices before disbursement to identify possible financing of the same invoice by multiple lenders. The shared checks address a gap in individual banks’ records, which may not reveal whether another lender has already financed an invoice. NBB will help assess the registry against banking requirements ahead of broader adoption. The project builds on BENEFIT’s earlier collaboration announced at the Singapore FinTech Festival. 8. Beyon Money and barq agree proposed regional fintech combination Bahrain’s Beyon and barq Group announced on 7 October an agreement to bring Beyon Money’s operations into barq’s broader fintech platform, which the companies say serves more than 15 million users. Beyon Money offers cards, remittances, merchant payments and investment products through regulated entities in Bahrain, giving the proposed combination an established service and licensing base. Under the proposed structure, Beyon Money would become part of barq while Beyon would retain an economic interest in barq. The companies identified Beyon Money’s existing licences as a foundation for potential expansion, but completion remains subject to final documentation, regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Existing Beyon Money customers can continue using their accounts and services. 9. BBK progresses digital ledger pilot to core cash-management testing Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) announced on 12 October that it had successfully integrated Google Cloud Universal Ledger with its core cash-management systems in a user acceptance testing environment. The work is being undertaken with ARRAY Innovation and was showcased at Bahrain’s Fintech Forward 2026 event. The bank is exploring tokenised payments and programmable settlement, including potential applications for round-the-clock settlement and lower settlement costs. The integration follows BBK’s initial pilot announcement in July. Google Cloud Universal Ledger supports multiple currencies and smart-contract-enabled transactions, providing the capabilities being tested for programmable settlement. BBK said it was evaluating the technology’s operational requirements and business case before adoption. The work sits alongside its broader corporate-banking digitalisation, including July’s upgrade of BanKey with payment, liquidity-management and reconciliation tools. 10. Mashreq pilots agentic AI for integration engineering IBM announced on 12 October that Mashreq was piloting IBM Bob to support integration engineering, including solution design, code review and production troubleshooting. According to IBM, early pilot results demonstrated reductions of up to 60–70% in time spent on integration design and troubleshooting, with some tasks previously requiring two to three hours completed within minutes. The pilot forms part of Mashreq’s work with IBM to modernise the integration platform supporting instant payments, cross-border transactions and operations across countries. IBM said the platform processes an average of 650 transactions per second. Mashreq is also exploring on-premises deployment of IBM Bob for mission-critical applications that may require locally hosted models to address data-residency and regulatory requirements. What to watch The EU–GCC Summit in Saudi Arabia on 24 October and the Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 29 October.
