Europe

European banks will have longer than expected to correct the fallback language in their dollar-denominated additional tier ones (AT1s), now that dollar Libor has been given an extra 18 months to live.

This week in Keeping Tabs: attractive credit picks, physical shops adapting to online retail and a new drama about investment banking.

The European Union’s Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities, the cornerstone of its action on sustainable finance, looks set to bless several technologies such as biofuels and hydroelectric power that are not just environmentally questionable but actively harmful, as a result of lobbying by vested interests.

Two of UBS's most senior banker are taking on new responsibilities as Axel Lehmann leaves the firm.

Flutter Entertainment, the parent of bookies Paddy Power and Betfair, has returned to the equity capital markets with a £1.1bn share sale to finance its acquisition of a stake in FanDuel Group, the New York-based fantasy sports and online casino company.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress European sovereigns have made in their funding programmes in early December.

Barclays plc priced a short-dated senior deal about five basis points through fair value in the dollar market this week, as Brexit negotiations come down to the eleventh hour.

Alstom, the French manufacturer of trains, trams and buses, has completed its €2bn rights issue to fund the acquisition of Bombardier's train division.

Banks bombarded the dollar market this week with a rich variety of trades in what promises to be a busy run-in to the end of the year with investors still in the hunt for primary deals.

The House of Commons' Treasury Select Committee has asked the UK Debt Management Office to answer a series of questions on its bond syndication programme, specifically on the pricing of its bonds and the fees it pays to bookrunners.

Emerging market borrowers seem to be enjoying unfettered access to the capital markets, but many are now questioning whether this Covid-induced debt spree can be sustained in the long run. With fiscal support packages likely to be needed in 2021, investors will be sifting through EM governments to see which will be able to borrow and which will be left behind, writes Mariam Meskin.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena led a trio of speculative grade Italian banks into the euro bond market this week, as credit investors showed that no issuers were off limit in their increasingly desperate search for yield. Tyler Davies reports.