Banks

JP Morgan has hired Mark Carlile as vice-chairman of mergers and acquisitions for its Australia and New Zealand franchise, according to an internal memo.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has had a stellar week, hosting two secondary listings worth about $6bn in total in quick succession. The latest out of the gate is Chinese video sharing and gaming platform Bilibili, which kicked off a potential $3bn float within hours of internet giant Baidu wrapping up its multi-billion-dollar deal. Jonathan Breen reports.

Two Chinese companies sold dollar bonds on Wednesday as the rest of the market hit pause to await the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The sterling corporate bond market had three visitors on Wednesday, making it the busiest day this year, and raised a combined £1.565bn, an unusually large amount for corporate sterling issuance.

Verizon Communications, the US telecoms group, embarked on an almost $3bn niche currency bond issuing spree this week, which included the largest foreign Swiss franc bond since early 2018.

Traton, the commercial vehicle making subsidiary of Volkswagen, had a storming debut in the bond markets on Wednesday, despite increasing choosiness among investors.

Vonovia, the German housing company, launched its first green bond on Wednesday, and investors were happy to buy it through the company’s conventional bond curve, even though its paper already trades more tightly than peers.

Wells Fargo has developed a coherent strategy for EMEA as it looks to meet demand for more choice from clients. But can it stand out from the crowd, asks David Rothnie.

Club Brugge, the Belgian football club, has begun bookbuilding for its IPO on Euronext Brussels, having fixed the price range at €17.50 to €22.50 a share.

HSBC sold one of the biggest sterling deals of the year on Wednesday, as it paid up slightly to achieve such a large size.

Paragon Banking Group this week became the first UK lender to launch a subordinated bond in an ESG format. The bank was looking to replace its only outstanding tier two with a new green-labelled transaction.

Fnac Darty, the French electronics retailer, has amended and extended its main bank credit lines, shortly after issuing its debut convertible bond as an independent company.