Banks

A group of banks that worked on Luckin Coffee’s IPO is facing questions after an alleged multi-billion renminbi fraud came to light last week. But some of the limelight has already been drawn away by another possible fraud case in China and a controversial short report, creating wider uncertainty around US-listed Chinese stocks. Jonathan Breen and Rebecca Feng report.

The UK’s EasyJet is about to have $500m of funds released to it, after the budget airline sent a utilisation request to its banking group at the start of the week.

Chinese biopharmaceuticals firm Akesobio is preparing to launch bookbuilding for its IPO next week, according to a source close to the deal.

The controlling shareholder of South Korean entertainment company Studio Dragon raised W166.1bn ($136.2m) this week after selling a portion of its stake.

The top tier of emerging markets sovereigns are cramming into this week’s issuance window, as Abu Dhabi followed Qatar’s Tuesday blowout with a triple tranche bond deal of its own.

Financial institutions bond bankers are struggling to build a new pipeline of issuance, despite a significant improvement in market conditions this week. Not only are banks entering blackout periods ahead of first quarter results, many of them are also happy to wait before seeking to raise new funding.

The Republic of Indonesia raised $4.3bn from a triple-tranche bond this week, making quick progress in its effort to fund a fiscal stimulus package that it hopes will soften the damage of the Covid-19 pandemic. Morgan Davis reports.

Europe’s top rated corporate bond issuers on Wednesday pushed investors further still, despite the spate of recent deals, with Capgemini bringing the second two year fixed rate bond in as many days and National Grid bringing the longest sterling deal since the coronavirus crisis took hold in the West.

Nomura has hired a new head of investment banking for Southeast Asia.

Korea Development Bank raised $500m in a floating rate bond on Tuesday, opening the international debt market for other South Korean issuers.

'We are all in this together' is not a view Europe’s investment banks will recognise when they compare themselves with their formidable US rivals, writes David Rothnie.

A trio of agencies hit screens with dollar deals on Tuesday. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and CDP Financial tapped the three year part of the curve, while the Ontario Teachers’ Finance Trust reopened a five year market that had been shuttered by coronavirus-related volatility.