THE USUAL SUSPECTS are in the running to advise on NBE’s USD 1 bn bond issuance: Citi, JP Morgan, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas are among the 17 candidates the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) is debating hiring as advisors on its USD 500 mn to USD 1 bn international bond issuance, said NBE board member Hussein Refaie. The bank will select the advisors within the coming few weeks, Al Borsa reports. As we noted earlier this month, the bank’s Chairman Hisham Okasha had said that bond issuance would take place sometime in 1Q17. NBE had originally planned to run the sale last year, but market conditions were not favorable, said Refaie. In related news, Capital Intelligence has reportedly affirmed NBE’s long-term foreign currency rating at B- / B with a ‘stable’ outlook, noting that NBE’s “capacity for timely fulfilment of financial obligations ‘is very vulnerable to adverse changes in internal or external circumstances.’”