Emirates NBD widens global funding reach

Emirates NBD Group has closed $2.25 billion in long-term financing, in a deal that ranks among the largest syndicated borrowings in the Gulf and underscores the lender’s ability to attract offshore funding even as markets navigate geopolitical tension and higher funding costs. The package comprises a $1.75 billion five-year sustainability-linked syndicated term loan and a $500 million five-year club commodity murabaha facility.

The Dubai lender said the sustainability-linked tranche was launched at $1 billion and drew demand of more than twice that amount, allowing the facility to be increased to $1.75 billion. Fifteen financial institutions from the Americas, Europe and Asia joined the combined transaction, reflecting the bank’s continued access to international liquidity pools beyond its domestic deposit base. Bank of America, BNP Paribas, DBS Bank and Emirates NBD Capital acted as coordinators, book-runners and sustainability coordinators on the main transaction.

That broad lender participation matters because it comes at a time when funding conditions across emerging markets have turned less predictable. Reuters reported on 27 March that a strong start to 2026 issuance in emerging economies had begun to stall as conflict linked to Iran pushed borrowing costs higher and unsettled investors. Against that backdrop, a heavily subscribed five-year facility for a Gulf bank signals that top-tier regional borrowers are still able to secure sizeable financing, especially where balance sheets are strong and credit quality is well understood.

For Emirates NBD, the transaction is as much about funding structure as headline size. The bank said the raising strengthens its long-term US dollar funding profile and supports strategic growth priorities. That is consistent with the group’s wider expansion phase. Full-year 2025 results showed total assets at AED 1.164 trillion, deposits at AED 786 billion and gross loans at AED 658 billion after what the lender described as record lending growth. Reuters reported that net profit for 2025 rose 4% to AED 24 billion, while the bank continued to push international growth.

Those numbers help explain why the market responded positively. Large regional banks are being judged not only on profitability, but on how flexibly they can fund growth across currencies, geographies and business lines. Emirates NBD’s management has been positioning the group as a regional champion with widening activities in corporate banking, wealth, digital finance and cross-border expansion. Its investor materials for the 2025 year-end also show capital ratios remaining above minimum regulatory requirements even as the group absorbs fast asset growth.

The sustainability-linked structure is also significant. While the bank has not publicly detailed the performance targets in the snippets available, the use of a sustainability-linked loan format keeps Emirates NBD aligned with a broader financing trend in the Gulf, where borrowers are increasingly blending conventional funding needs with instruments tied to environmental, social or governance metrics. A joint Dubai Financial Services Authority and Hong Kong Monetary Authority report published in November said labelled sustainable debt issuance across MENA and emerging Asia-Pacific markets had tripled since 2020 to $94 billion, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia accounting for the bulk of MENA activity since 2023.

There is also a strategic message in the geographic spread of lenders. Reuters reported in December that Asian investors had been flocking to Gulf bonds and loans, drawn by the region’s growth, improving credit stories and deeper trade links with Asia. Emirates NBD’s syndication, which drew institutions from three major regions, suggests Gulf financial names are no longer reliant on a narrow band of relationship banks when seeking dollar liquidity. Instead, they are operating in a broader market where the most highly rated regional borrowers can diversify funding channels in much the same way as larger international peers.

The deal also lands only days after the UAE central bank unveiled measures to support sector liquidity amid market stress linked to the Middle East conflict. Reuters reported on 18 March that the package included enhanced access to reserve balances and term liquidity facilities in dirhams and US dollars. While Emirates NBD’s financing appears to have been planned as part of its wider capital strategy rather than as a reaction to that package, the timing reinforces the broader point that resilient local policy settings and strong sovereign-linked operating environments remain important anchors for bank funding in the Gulf.