Banks

The coronavirus has smashed the usual hierarchy of companies, large and small, creating new winners — and many losers. While 2020 was about finding ways to keep their financial lifeblood flowing, in 2021, more permanent solutions will need to be found. This will include bond funding for those still shut out — and M&A. Mike Turner reports.

The Swiss National Bank said it is “willing” to increase the scope of its foreign exchange interventions to keep the Swiss franc’s value down, despite the US Treasury labelling it a ‘currency manipulator’ this week.

The current global health crisis has surfaced an important discussion around the connection between sustainability and the broader issues weighing on our society. So, if we take one lesson away from these intersecting crises, it is that our physical and economic health, our sustainability and resiliency, and social justice are inextricably linked.

This year proved to be one of the most dramatic on record for corporate financiers as volumes rose from the ashes of the market sell-off. David Rothnie examines some of the themes that defined the year and looks ahead to 2021.

Credit Suisse has hired Deutsche Bank’s head of corporate broking to bolster its senior UK investment banking team.

Moody’s postponed its decision on whether to upgrade Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) on Thursday, as the ratings agency wants to examine the Italian bank’s forthcoming capital plan first.

Klépierre, the French shopping mall company, has signed a €1.385bn sustainability-linked revolving credit facility, with the coronavirus pandemic-hit borrower pushing out its refinancing needs to March 2024.

US-listed Chinese companies have raised more than $12bn from equity investors in the past month, with iQiyi becoming the latest to simultaneously sell a convertible bond and price a follow-on offering of its American depositary shares. With valuations soaring for many of these stocks, bankers expect more issuers to jump into the market in 2021, writes Jonathan Breen.

Dollar bond sales from India have seen a last minute pick-up before the year-end, with three firms pricing their deals in the past week. Indian companies, like the rest of the region, faced hurdles in accessing offshore funding this year, but bankers are optimistic about 2021. Morgan Davis reports.

Xinyi Solar Holdings has raised HK$3.9bn ($503.1m) after more than doubling the size of an overnight placement of primary shares.

By Jana Hecker, Global Head of Equity Capital Markets, UniCredit

Hungary has no plans to issue wholesale bonds in foreign currency markets next year, having raised more debt than expected in euros and yen in 2020.