Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Gulf's biggest bank by assets, on Wednesday started marketing US dollar-denominated bonds with a seven-year maturity, a document showed. QNB has hired Barclays, Credit Agricole, Mizuho, QNB Capital and Standard Chartered to arrange the potential deal, which would be of benchmark size - normally meaning upwards of $500 million.

QNB Finance is the issuer and Qatar National Bank is the guarantor for the debt sale, marketed with an initial price guidance of around 155 basis points over mid-swaps.

QNB's potential deal - expected to close later on Wednesday - follows a $600 million Formosa bond deal last month, as the bank taps different markets to diversify its funding.