Francesca Young

Nick Darrant left the bond market in 2023 as a young banking retiree after two decades of experience in global capital markets, particularly focused on emerging market debt. He is now an adviser in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in Rwanda, ... See more

Emirates NBD took a leap this week to reopen bond issuance in the Gulf, after a two month interruption caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. The $750m additional tier one capital deal was bold, but also clever. Emirates NBD got ahead of a huge queue of ba... See more

The Gulf sovereigns have turned to the private bond market in recent weeks, raising impressive multi-billion dollar bonds even while under attack from Iran. There are many attractions to this sort of funding, especially at a time of such volatility. But p... See more

It is simplistic to look at Gulf sovereign this week and make the argument that they cannot escape their geography. But in the financial markets that is exactly what they have done. In a week of war, it has been striking how little Gulf sovereign bond spr... See more

The extraordinary scenes this week with the United Arab Emirates under Iranian bombardment — and some casualties and damage to property — are far from what anyone is used to or ever expected to happen on this usually tranquil coast. But this war, triggere... See more