Bloomberg Azerbaijan will transfer as much as 7.5 billion manat ($4 billion) of assets from its sovereign wealth fund to the central bank this year, giving it ammunition to defend the manat in the latest effort to break the grip of a currency crisis. The regulator will use the money to ‘ensure macroeconomic stability’ in 2017, according to a …

  Bloomberg Canadian banks started their 2017 funding programs by selling a record amount of bonds backed by residential mortgages abroad, taking advantage of lower borrowing costs amid demand for their top-rated debt. The country’s biggest financial institutions have sold about $6 billion in covered bonds denominated in euros, US dollars and pounds this year, the most on record for …

  Reuters Qatar’s Masraf Al Rayan, an Islamic lender, has mandated banks for a sukuk of around $500 million, banking sources said on Wednesday. This would be one of a likely series of debt issues in the first quarter by Gulf banks seeking US dollar funding to improve their liquidity, which has been hurt by low oil prices. Abu Dhabi …