Comment EM and The Cover

Banks are seeing light at the end of the tunnel as they emerge from major cost cutting exercises at the same time as economies around the world begin to emerge, erratically, from pandemic restrictions. Now the question is whether there will be enough capital markets business to go around.

Central banks’ control was once limited to financial matters — they squatted in the corner, largely unseen. Now, they are stars in the drama — active, talkative stewards of the economy. Society looks to them to solve its problems; not to synch with government, but to make up for its deficiencies.

After the damning report into the Archegos Capital Management affair, Credit Suisse’s top management is likely to spend the rest of 2021 in a strategic huddle. Further upheaval at the investment bank is inevitable, but the business remains an essential part of the group’s future, writes David Rothnie.

It is difficult these days, if not impossible, to find a bank that does not have an official policy or target to boost diversity and inclusion. By pushing them out of their comfort zones, could the pandemic help finally turn these aspirations into reality?

Aligning with a global commercial bank has been on Jefferies’ agenda for several years, but its alliance with SMBC signals an intent to join the investment banking big league. By David Rothnie.

The Bank of England looks set to wrap up a review of the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) without reconsidering its total asset threshold. That would be a mistake.

A sell-off in global equities at the beginning of last week, in response to the Delta-variant-fueled rise in Covid-19 cases, was largely erased in the following days. But the episode offered a glimpse of the disquiet in the market, and a hint as to the likely reaction if the pandemic were to take a course that put the brakes on economic growth.

The People & Markets section of GlobalCapital could almost have been called the Barclays section this week, given the number of stories that involved the bank. What has been going on?

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.

Robinhood’s mission to democratise stock markets is taking its inevitable next step with its own initial public offering, of which it says it will sell between 20% to 35% to retail investors. But while opening up the IPO investor base beyond the institutional investor clique sounds good in theory, such transactions remain extremely risky for retail investors.

A huge Japanese financial holding company is buying a stake in a US investment bank. Where have we seen that before?

Goldman Sachs’s much-trumpeted middle-market investment banking initiative is being overshadowed by the bank’s natural affinity for the biggest and most complex deals, writes David Rothnie.

Space might well be the new frontier in equity investing, with several deals catching the attention of capital markets professionals in the past couple of weeks. But as exciting as investing in space and space technology are, grouping vastly different businesses together under the catch-all term 'space economy' runs the risk of stoking fads or even an equity bubble.

Activity in the recruitment market for sustainable capital markets experts has ticked up this year, as banks looking to staff up in this area see a small but growing talent pool to tap. A recent hire by Santander in London is a good example.

With private equity-backed mergers and acquisitions hitting record levels in Europe, bankers have their tails up as they jostle for the most lucrative fee opportunities, writes David Rothnie.

HSBC’s quest to gain market share in investment banking took another turn this week with the latest revamp of its corporate finance structure in the US, which took place against a backdrop of relocations and reshuffles around the world, writes David Rothnie.

The European initial public offering market has been difficult for months, but new listings are still being brought to market with little regard for whether investors want to buy them. Instead of trying to ram deals through to satisfy a pre-arranged timeline, banks should be advising their clients to delay listings that don’t work in these conditions.

There were likely some well earned fist bumps and high fives going on in Brussels this week after the EU inaugurated its Next Generation funding programme with a triumphant €20bn outing. But things won’t always be so smooth for the issuer.

Credit Suisse’s investment bankers are looking to its top ranks for an injection of belief in the future of the business, following cuts to the bonus pool and defections from those with less patience, writes David Rothnie.

Although some bankers, keen on London life, are scrambling for ways to avoid having to move to the EU, further relocations due to take place this year will help build the critical mass needed for a vibrant pool of talent to emerge in hubs like Paris and Frankfurt.

Nomura has ambitious plans to boost its advisory and capital markets businesses as part of a full-throated commitment to international investment banking, writes David Rothnie.

Corporate broking relationships are undergoing their biggest shake-up in a decade as companies reassess banking relationships following the Covid-19 pandemic.

French banks and foreign rivals are slugging it out in France’s corporate finance boom, where proximity to the government is an advantage, writes David Rothnie.

Following the international outcry over the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger plane carrying a Belarusian dissident, some emerging markets investors are said to have had sudden doubts about the ESG characteristics of Belarusian sovereign bonds. What took them so long?

Having come to the aid of Main Street stalwarts such as car rental company Hertz, video game store GameStop Corp, cinema group AMC Entertainment Holdings and diner chain Denny’s, it seems that US equity investors are now stepping in to help out that other pillar of American society — CLO managers.

Barclays is aiming to bring its continental European corporate finance business in line with its strength in the UK and North America after receiving a resounding vindication of its strategy, writes David Rothnie.

Foreign ownership of Chinese domestic bonds has hit an all-time high of over Rmb3.6tr ($562bn) — an impressive number but one that warrants a much closer look.

The US Federal Reserve’s market liquidity measures have provided the fuel that has propelled stock markets to new highs. But its core mandate is to fight inflation and unemployment, not to line the pockets of stock investors. If the central bank is wrong about the “transitory” nature of the recent spike in inflation, then it must act.

Long call periods are now an established feature in bank capital products, but the benefits should also apply to the senior market, particularly when it comes to riskier borrowers beginning their MREL journeys.

A small band of committed investors in Tesco has achieved spectacular success with a shareholder motion on healthy food. This should embolden investors to hold issuers to account on a wider range of social matters — and also contains a deeper lesson about how markets bring about change.

“What gets measured gets managed,” goes an old saw popular in sustainable finance circles. If companies, investors and banks, the argument says, collect better environmental and social data, this knowledge will naturally breed improvements in performance.

Progress in sustainability-linked finance for banks has flipped from glacial to dizzying with Berlin Hyp’s €500m sustainability-linked bond this week.

Banks are training their Middle East efforts on Saudi Arabia, where they are hoping to capitalise on growing capital markets activity. The result is a slug-fest for the best banking talent, but firms must learn the lessons of the past, writes David Rothnie.

Renewable energy has been one of the hottest sectors in Europe’s equity capital markets in recent times but investors are no longer just buying companies for their verdant hue. Issuers must now prove they have the financial strength to back their environmental credentials.

Banks shouldn’t let conceptual considerations stand in the way of them issuing sustainability-linked bonds.

The disastrous listing of food delivery app company Deliveroo in London last week sent shockwaves through equity capital markets, with some suggesting it will dampen Europe’s IPO market in the next few weeks. But it needn't be as bad as all that. Investors are keen to take part in IPOs — they just need greater discounts that match their perceptions of risk.