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QIIB has again received Citibank New York’s ‘2026 Straight Through Processing (STP) Excellence Award’ for international payments.  The recognition highlights QIIB’s strong operational capabilities and the efficiency of its international payment processing, enabling transactions to be executed swiftly and reliably without manual intervention. The award was presented at a ceremony held at the bank’s headquarters, where QIIB COO Mohammed Khair Barhoumeh received the award from Citibank head of Financial Institutions Sales for the Middle East Seemanti Considine. It was also attended by QIIB head of Payments and International Operations Najeeb Ahmed Nasiruddin alongside senior representatives from Citibank. The achievement highlights the effectiveness of QIIB’s strategy to further automate its operations, strengthen its payments infrastructure and continually enhance customer experience, delivering greater efficiency and convenience in line with the highest international standards. The award further demonstrates QIIB’s high levels of accuracy and speed in processing incoming and outgoing transfers, as well as its record straight-through processing (STP) rates. This level of performance is supported by robust systems designed to efficiently manage the growing volume of international financial transactions. Barhoumeh said, “Receiving this award once again in 2026 is more than a recognition. It is a clear indication of the consistency of our operational performance and the significant progress we have made in advancing the efficiency of our international payment services, bringing them fully in line with the standards of leading global financial institutions.” “Our focused investments in digital systems and the capabilities of our teams have been instrumental in raising operational efficiency to new levels. Our role goes beyond processing payments; it is about giving our customers the confidence that their funds will reach their destinations worldwide on time, with the highest levels of transparency and security.” Speaking about QIIB’s plans, Barhoumeh said: “This achievement further strengthens our commitment to continuous innovation. We are pursuing a focused and carefully considered approach to integrating the latest intelligent automation and advanced analytics technologies across our operations. This ensures that our customers’ banking experience remains at the forefront of global standards for speed and reliability.” “Our longstanding partnership with Citibank is a strategic pillar that we greatly value, providing our customers with seamless and convenient access to the global payments network, while supporting our continued progress towards an increasingly digital future.”

Commercial Bank announced the successful issuance and pricing of a $600mn five-year senior unsecured bond under the Bank and its subsidiary, CBQ Finance Limited’s $5bn European Medium Term Note (EMTN) Programme. The issue was arranged and offered through a syndicate of Joint Lead Managers comprising Citibank, Barclays, ANZ, Mizuho, UniCredit, QNB Capital and Doha Bank. To support the issue, representatives from Commercial Bank embarked on a virtual road show with the Joint Lead Managers. During the virtual roadshow, they presented to financial institutions, pension funds, asset managers and supranational bodies, and held one-to-one and group meetings. Following the end of the Investor meetings, the transaction saw strong demand, with approximately $2bn order book (an oversubscription by approximately x 4) allowing Commercial Bank to tighten the final spread. The bond was issued at a spread of 100 basis points over mid-swaps, carries a coupon of 4.625% and has a final reoffer yield of 4.689% per annum.Commercial Bank achieved its lowest spread ever booked by robust international demand. Although the spread was tightened by 25 basis points the book remained strong reflecting strong investor appetite. The net proceeds of the issue will be used for general funding purposes to support the strategic growth plans of Commercial Bank. Very high-quality investors from the global community participated in this issue, with the majority of investors from the MENA (54%) and Europe (22%), followed by Asia (17%) and offshore US (7%). The investor base is diversified, including some of the world’s leading fixed income investors, with strong demand from fund managers, sovereign funds, banks and GCC institutions. Commenting on the successful issuance, Executive General Manager (Treasury and Investments) at Commercial Bank, Parvez Khan said: “We are delighted by the investor response to our issuance under the EMTN Programme. The market demand and attractive pricing is a clear indication of the continuing confidence of international investors in the economic strength of Qatar, and is testament to Commercial Bank’s strategy, financial strength and prudent management.” Commercial Bank was the first Qatari entity to establish an EMTN Programme with a listing on the London Stock Exchange, and the first Qatari bank to issue a bond in the international capital markets. The bonds are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and are rated A by Fitch.