The waiting games: ME issuance, digital capital markets and French covered bonds

Send us Fan Mail◆ Iran peace deal in sight but where are the Middle East issuers? ◆ Why primary capital markets will be slow adopters of DLT ◆ Why French covered bond issuance has slowed and why it might pick upThe Iran war has kept the Middle East's bond issuers largely at bay but with the path to peace now clearer, issuance conditions have improved. But even this might not be enough to tempt borrowers back to the primary bond market en masse. We discover why.We also analyse a new report on the digitalisation of wholesale finance and discuss why capital markets might be one of the last bits of finance to go digital.French issuers are among the biggest users of the covered bond market but so far this year, they are way down on the volumes they have issued compared to last year. We examine what has been going on and uncover the reasons why there could be more French deals in the coming months.And we also talk about the GlobalCapital Bond Awards 2026 held this week in London, one of our biggest events of the year, and about some of the awards we handed out on the night.Now read on: Gulf markets lap up peace memo but public issuance unlikely to come roaring backPrimary capital markets could be among last to adopt DLT, report findsCore covered issuers to step forward in second half of yearGlobalCapital Bond Awards 2026: winners revealed