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This week Keeping Tabs looks at the financial factors that drove some European clubs to try and create a breakaway super league, and what might be driving inflation other than the pandemic recovery.

Kenneth Lay, chair of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), is no stranger to using financial innovation to help tackle some of the world's biggest problems. He spoke to GlobalCapital about the importance of IFFIm as a vehicle to finance the global vaccine rollout in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Freelance financial journalists in China have found a new source of work — disgruntled wives out to shame their husbands.

Let history show that even though no one even kicked a ball in the European Super League, it still had a winner: JP Morgan.

Harassment allegations at institutions with social and environmental purposes, from schools to public sector banks, are sobering reminders that ethical investment is not only about how borrowers spend investors’ money: ESG investing should catalyse cultural change across the financial industry. But this will be a long and difficult fight.

New Zealand will be an important test case for mandatory reporting on climate risks. Financial firms everywhere would be wise to sit up and take notice.

The corporate governance issues surrounding Darktrace, the UK AI cyber security company that confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange this week, can be generously described as unusual but they are not a shock to the market, and are unlikely to put investors off completely, providing the company seeks a sensible valuation.

The shock from the stunning slump in China Huarong Asset Management Co's dollar bonds may have eased slightly, following a rally this week after supportive comments from the Chinese government. But the incident should trigger a more critical look at the risks and rewards of buying state-owned international bonds.

In this round-up, Beijing and Washington pledge to fight climate change together, Citi plans to set up onshore securities and futures companies as it ends consumer banking operations in 13 markets including China, and the banking and insurance regulator reassures the market that Huarong Asset Management Co’s operations are stable.

Japanese issuers have just been through one of the most volatile, unpredictable years in decades. Although the impact of Covid-19 on capital markets was not as violent as the aftermath of the global financial crisis, huge questions about economic growth, trade and asset allocation meant it was arguably a more troubling period for issuers and investors alike. GlobalCapital talked to some of the country’s best-regarded issuers about how they navigated the market.

This week in keeping tabs US president Joe Biden gets tough on Russia, a sceptic gives his views on M&A addiction, there is German hand-wringing about excessive debt and a look at counting the lockdown death toll. Then we revisit that the age old question: is passive investing Marxist?

The Covid-19 pandemic caused severe disruption to financial markets in 2020-2021. During this difficult time, the Bank of Canada and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions took a number of actions to build resilience and improve the stability of the Canadian financial system. Federally regulated financial institutions were, among other things, permitted the privilege to pledge covered bonds with the central bank, which provided access to long-term repos and benefited from preferential regulatory treatment of loans subject to payment deferrals.