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The extremely dovish tone struck by the European Central Bank last week means there is no end in sight to the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (Pepp). Given the uncertainty around the course of the pandemic, that is as it should be.

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.

In this round-up, onshore securities houses receive their 2021 annual rating, the central bank requires pre-reporting from non-bank payment firms to go public, and the private education industry in China faces tough new regulations.

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?

Ahead of AFME & IMN’s 25th Anniversary Global ABS conference this September, IMN spoke to Rob Ford of TwentyFour Asset Management and the AFME securitization board about what’s happening in the market, the key trends he expects to see in the remainder of 2021, and the themes likely to be discussed and debated at the event. Here are some extracts from the interview:

Communication is the only real policy tool where the European Central Bank still has wiggle room.

Having your CV stand out in a sea of job applications is no easy feat. So how do you grab an employer's attention?

If there is one year where Asia’s bond market needs to slow down for the summer, and then emerge stronger and better, it’s 2021.

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.

In this round-up, the Chinese central bank releases the first white paper for its digital currency, regulators led by the Cyberspace Administration of China conduct an on-site inspection at Didi Chuxing Technology, and the takeover period of nine financial firms linked to beleaguered conglomerate Tomorrow Holding has been extended.

GlobalCapital is thrilled to announce that the survey for this year’s awards is now open. All market participants are invited to take part.

In this round-up, China’s economic growth slows in the second quarter, Beijing launches the world’s largest carbon emission trading scheme, and the top market regulator approves Tencent Holdings’ plan to take US-listed search engine Sogou private.