Qatar National Bank (QNB) has announced the successful completion of a bond issuance under its Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) Program in the international capital markets. Under this program, a $ 1 billion tranche was issued on Wednesday (Nov. 7) that matures in February 2018 with a coupon rate of 2.125 percent. This rate is the lowest in the history for bonds issued by financial institutions in the region.

The Reg S issue attracted strong interest from investors around the world, which reflected their confidence in QNB Group's financial strength and the bank's position as the largest financial institution in terms of profitability and total assets. This also reflected investors' high confidence in QNB Group's strategy over the coming years.

The highly successful issue reflected strong interest and participation by key global investors that led to the issuance being several times oversubscribed.

Proceeds of this issue will be utilized for general banking purposes.

The issue was arranged and offered through a syndicate of Joint Lead Managers that included Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International, QNB Capital and Standard Chartered Bank.

QNB Group, established in 1964 as the country's first Qatari-owned commercial bank, has an ownership structure split between the Qatar Investment Authority (50 percent) and the private sector (50 percent).

The group has steadily grown to be among the largest banks in the MENA Region and is by far the leading financial institution in the country with a market share exceeding 45 percent of banking sector assets.

It has witnessed rapid international expansion in the past few years and operates in 24 countries around the world through its network, subsidiaries and associate companies employing about 8,500 staff from 383 branch and offices that are supported by an ATM network that exceeds 780 machines.

QNB Group is among the highest rated regional banks from leading credit rating agencies.