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Ireland won kudos for the swift economic recovery that followed the sovereign debt crisis, but with a considerable portion of residential mortgage loans overdue or restructured, its housing market was in a terrible state even before the impact of Covid lockdowns, let alone the peril a disorderly Brexit may bring. -
The coronavirus pandemic has sparked an unprecedented wave of sovereign borrowing. Much of the paper has, unsurprisingly, ended up on the balance sheets of domestic banks. This has, equally unsurprisingly, prompted a fresh round of worry about the strengthening of the sovereign-bank nexus.
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The European Central Bank (ECB) would gain more autonomy under new proposals on how to improve bank capital rules.
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If the European Central Bank (ECB) is serious about eventually scaling back its quantitative easing programme and encouraging a return to normal market funding, it will need all tools at its disposal. That suggests there is scope for an instrument that delivers a low cost of funding and supports the European economy. European Secured Notes (ESNs), which are likely to form part of the European Commission’s capital markets action plan, which is to be unveiled this Thursday, could provide the answer.
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The green bond market was conceived on a simple plan. A new class of green bonds would finance environmental projects, standing out from the grey mass of ordinary bonds.
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Recent Brexit developments prove that UK banks were right to pile into the market earlier this year.
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An accounting practice called badwill is central to debates about European bank M&A — but it probably should not be, as it leads to some confusing rhetoric.
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Surging covered bond issuance that is printed only for repo at the central bank and official sector purchases means that the asset class is now less relevant for market funding purposes than ever before. If this continues, the systemic importance of the €2.7tr global market will be undermined just as efforts to develop it look to bear fruit.
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Bank of China has opened a new area of sustainable investing with Asia’s first blue bond. The excitement over the potential for sustainable ocean-related financing in the region is justified — but the market should temper its expectations.
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A year on from the closure of its flow equity trading business, Deutsche Bank’s investment bank is back in a bullish mood after performing well during the first stage of the coronavirus crisis.
