Commercial Bank Of Kuwait Cancels KD120m Bond Issue

Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has cancelled the sale of a KD120 million ($413 million) bond which would have boosted its capital reserves, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

The bank, Kuwait’s fifth-largest by assets, said that despite attracting sufficient attention for the transaction from investors, it had been cancelled due to “legislative and technical issues”. It did not elaborate on what these were.

CBK announced last month it planned to sell the bond which would enhance the bank’s Tier 2 — or supplementary — capital. The issue would have had a ten-year lifespan with an option for the issuer to redeem it after the fifth year, with pricing set at 2.25 per cent over the central bank of Kuwait’s discount rate.