Banks

In 2016, JP Morgan launched a service to help its corporate clients fill board positions with directors well versed in corporate governance. Now, as board composition comes under ever greater scrutiny, the bank is expanding the offering into EMEA.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has settled a legal dispute with its former controlling shareholder, clearing a major source of uncertainty that had been dragging on its efforts to find a buyer.

Ukraine tapped its dollar bonds on Thursday, as the certainty of disbursement of much-needed funding from the IMF remains unclear.

Terminal X Online Ltd, the Israeli fashion e-commerce company, is due to price its IPO at Ish11.42 a share, the top of the initial range, valuing the company at Ish1.3bn ($390m) on a post-money basis.

Philippine property developer Filinvest Land has set the final price for its real estate investment trust (Reit) IPO.

Kakao Bank has defended its valuation following a W2.55tr ($2.2bn) IPO after being questioned by South Korea’s regulators about its high pricing. The internet-only bank is only the latest in the country to be targeted by authorities cracking down on lofty valuations of new listings. Jonathan Breen reports.

The Republic of Indonesia veered off its usual funding plan by heading into the bond market this week with a dollar-euro combination trade, at a time when it is feeling the brunt of a big spike in Covid-19 cases. But the stability in secondary market trading and a fall in US Treasuries offered the sovereign an opportunity to top up its coffers, writes Morgan Davis.

Barclays has hired seasoned investment banker and KfW board member Ingrid Hengster as its new country CEO for Germany and global chairman of investment banking.

Borrowers from Greater China rolled out five new bonds on Wednesday to raise more than $2bn between them.

Crédit Agricole has hired the former head of Santander's global banking and corporate finance business, Georg Orssich, in a regional management position.

UniCredit has quickly junked Jean Pierre Mustier’s legacy and forged a new strategy based on greater accountability, but the newly unveiled corporate and investment bank retains plenty of the character of the old one, writes David Rothnie.

Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) sealed a $1bn bond this week, pricing both tranches of the deal inside some fair value estimates.