Banks

Taiping Financial Holdings Co has become the latest Chinese firm to pay back its outstanding loan early.

Smoore International Holdings, the world’s largest vaping device manufacturer by revenue, has opened books for a HK$7.12bn ($919m) IPO.

Agence Française de Développement hit the market twice this week, taking advantage of the absence of competing supply to pick up cash in euros and dollars. Thibaut Makarovsky, head of funding and market operations at the agency, discussed the deals with GlobalCapital.

Citi has created a cross-border and public sector solutions (XPS) team, which will be headed by Valentina Antill globally, with Abhishek Kapur taking charge of Asia Pacific.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sold the first Algerian dinar-linked bond from a development finance institution last week. With local market liquidity drying up because of the collapse in the price of oil, further demand for dinar assets could depend on how well the nation’s economy diversifies away from the industry.

Daiwa Capital Markets has hired Chris Hill, former EMEA head of MTNs and structured notes at Barclays, to cover for Jez Walsh, SSA syndicate head, who has taken a leave of absence.

The Federal Reserve has come under fire for failing to oblige banks to stop paying dividends at a time of extreme economic uncertainty. The results of its latest stress test showed this week that a quarter of US banks could approach their minimum capital ratios if the coronavirus pandemic leads to a double-dip recession.

Just one week after selling $1.25bn of bonds, Belarus’s yield curve has widened as protests hit the country.

Issuers are struggling to obtain the necessary internal approvals to issue covered bonds, given how expensive the instruments are compared to the European Central Bank's Targeted Longer Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO III).

Asif Sherani and Souhail Mahjour are taking on additional responsibilities in HSBC’s debt capital markets syndicate team.

Bank of China sold its first ever bond out of its Djibouti branch on Monday, as Chinese issuers pour into capital markets to make up for time lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Italian arm of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has signed a €6.3bn credit facility with backing from a state agency, months after the embattled car maker signed a multi-billion euro bridging facility.