Free content

A bout of volatility in US Treasury rates has slowed down primary bond flow in Asia and forced borrowers to pay up for their deals. While the turbulence has kept issuers at bay, it will offer a much-needed reset for the region’s bond market.

Two UK institutions caught Notebook's eye this week. One, NatWest Markets, has promoted a corporate debt banker and is on a path to sustained growth. The other, HSBC, is looking to Asia and the Middle East for expansion as one of the longest serving bankers in the SSA market prepares to leave the firm.

In this round-up, factory and services activity growth slows down in China, the securities regulator tweaks rules on exchange market corporate bond issuance, and the New York bourse moves ahead with delisting Chinese oil giant Cnooc on alleged military ties.

In this round-up, the State Council calls for more efforts in the development of green finance in China, regulators plan to kick off southbound trading under Bond Connect by the end of 2021, and large state-owned Chinese banks unveil the latest reshuffle in top leadership.

The Schuldschein market must adapt if it wants to win back its international borrower base. While competing with public bonds on price may be out of reach, the instrument can take a leaf out of the US private placement’s book and introduce deferred funding.

Look at any bank’s website or hear its CEO speak and you will get a torrent of virtuous words about climate change, sustainability and supporting clients on their journeys to net zero. The same goes for big investors, from BlackRock down, but the windows of their ivory towers are misted up with all the hot air being spouted.

Dyal Capital, the US private equity firm that specialises in buying minority equity stakes in private equity and hedge fund managers, has employed a financing method — private placements securitized on fund cashflows — rarely seen before in its industry, writes Silas Brown.

A Covid baby boom has come to capital markets.

In 1954 Ennio Flaiano, an Italian screenwriter best-known for being one of the writers on Federico Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita', wrote 'A Martian in Rome', a satirical short story about an alien who lands his spacecraft in the Eternal City, sending it into a frenzy. Mario Draghi's arrival in Rome as Italy's prime minister just over a week ago saw a man, just as alien-looking to Italian politics as any Martian, take a seat at its very centre. His arrival has been just as sensational so far for the country and its capital markets but how effective will he be in the long-term?

UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has proposed a “British Recovery Bond” — a retail government issue that would be used to finance SME lending to help kick-start the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. It can be tempting to dismiss such measures as political posturing, but there are some genuine advantages to the proposal, and it deserves its day.

The thinking that the additional tier one (AT1) market should go back to trading through its pre-pandemic valuations holds big risks.

The huge retail investor demand for some recent Hong Kong IPOs has caught the stock exchange’s attention, leading to an investigation into how retail accounts place orders. The move will offer some welcome relief to institutional investors losing out on some of the city’s largest listings.