First Abu Dhabi Bank's regulatory issuance filing, dated Tuesday, confirmed the issuance of USD 500 million in five-year fixed-rate senior unsecured notes due September 2031 under its EMTN programme, following strong investor demand.
The notes, issued as EMTN Series 200, were priced on 9 September 2026 as a five-year senior unsecured Reg S bond carrying a coupon of 5.456%.
PRICING TIGHTENED 25 BASIS POINTS
Final pricing came at US Treasuries plus 90 basis points, tightened by 25 basis points from initial price thoughts of plus 115 basis points, reflecting the strength of demand the deal attracted from investors. Orders exceeded $1 billion, more than double the size of the deal, excluding interest from joint lead managers, the filing showed.
The notes were issued under FAB's USD 30 billion EMTN Programme, a well-established funding platform the bank uses for regular international debt issuance. The size of the order book relative to the deal size illustrates continued investor appetite for high-quality Gulf bank credit in the five-year maturity segment.
STRONG RATINGS UNDERPIN DEMAND
First Abu Dhabi Bank is rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA- by Standard & Poor's and AA- by Fitch, ratings that place it among the highest-rated banks in the Middle East and help explain the scale of demand the new issuance attracted. The bank's strong credit profile has consistently supported access to international capital markets at competitive pricing.
The successful pricing and subsequent regulatory confirmation of the notes add to FAB's track record of tapping international bond markets under its EMTN programme, providing the bank with additional long-term funding at a fixed coupon over the five-year term.
The 15 September regulatory filing served to formally confirm the terms of a bond that had already been priced on 9 September 2026, a sequencing common for international debt issuance where pricing and allocation to investors occurs several days ahead of the formal regulatory disclosure. The filing, made under EMTN Series 200, ensures the notes are properly registered within FAB's USD 30 billion programme documentation.
With the notes due September 2031, FAB has locked in five-year funding at a fixed 5.456% coupon, giving the bank certainty over financing costs for that portion of its balance sheet through the second half of the decade, at a time when Gulf banks have continued to access international capital markets to diversify funding sources beyond domestic deposits.
The 25 basis point tightening from initial price thoughts of plus 115 basis points to a final spread of plus 90 basis points over US Treasuries reflects the strength of the more than $1 billion order book relative to the $500 million deal size, a ratio that gave FAB significant room to tighten pricing during the bookbuilding process on 9 September 2026.
FAB's USD 30 billion EMTN programme provides the bank with a standing framework for repeated international bond issuance, of which the latest $500 million tranche represents one drawdown, allowing the bank to return to international debt markets under established documentation whenever funding conditions and investor demand are favourable.
The bank's Aa3, AA- and AA- ratings from Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch respectively give international investors an independent benchmark for assessing credit risk on the new notes, supporting the strong demand that allowed FAB to price the five-year issuance well inside its initial spread guidance.