Commercial Bank of Qatar is planning to raise up to $500m in a bond issue.

The bank held its first meetings with investors in the US on 4 November. It will also meet investors in London, Hong Kong and Singapore. The bond will be dollar-denominated and will have a tenor of five years, according to bankers close to the deal.

The bank has appointed the US’ Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse to advise on the issue. The last time the bank issued a bond was in June 2006, when it raised $500m for a five-year term.

Regional banks plan to issue several bonds before the end of 2009. Emirates NBD is sending a prospectus to investors and is due to start meeting investors by mid-November.

According to bankers in the bond market, Emirates NBD is pitching the series of meetings as a “non-deal roadshow”.

In October, the bank reported a 24 per cent fall in third-quarter profits, with profits in the three months to the end of September falling to QR397m ($109m) from QR523m in the same period of 2008.