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Will Sir Robert Stheeman become the Green Knight?

It felt like a great weight had been lifted from financial markets this week. Two weights in fact.

Jefferies has enjoyed a record year in European investment banking, powered by equity capital markets, writes David Rothnie.

Spare a thought for a young loans banker who recently told Taipan about his newfound freedom. I was drinking in Solas when the chap walked in on his own and ordered a Brooklyn Lager. Since we were the only two occupying the bar’s outside seating, we naturally started talking.

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that large UK companies, whether listed or private, would need to make climate-related disclosures, was a step towards an important principle — that corporate transparency is a public good, and should be driven by governments, not listing authorities.

The Bank of Japan has said that it will pay extra on reserves deposited by banks that become more cost efficient or that merge. A similar policy could well be introduced in Europe too, although perhaps with different aims.

Yves Mersch, one of the ECB governing council’s staunchest hawks, has a new argument for why the central bank must abridge its purchase programmes: by keeping down the borrowing costs of the eurozone periphery, the ECB is helping countries to “circumvent EU loans”, which he thinks should not be allowed to happen.

Ant Group’s IPO suspension was a big blow to many: the fintech firm itself, the banks that worked on the huge transaction, and the investors that were salivating to get a piece of the stock. It was also a big setback for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's reputation as an independent and attractive listing destination.

Weather prophets in Europe’s capital markets can feel a chill coming — banks’ loan books may wither on the vine. A few people — and firms — will be in their element.

In this round-up, China’s financial system gives up Rmb1.25tr ($190bn) in profits to support the real economy, the central bank releases its annual financial stability report, and the country’s foreign exchange reserves by the end of October miss forecast.

Many have heard of Frost/Nixon, a great play — and later a film — based on the real interviews David Frost did with US president Richard Nixon after his impeachment and resignation. But here's a 1987 BBC interview by David Frost with Joe Biden, before his first tilt at the presidency.

In this round up, China plans to expand its digital economy, local governments issue over Rmb6tr ($906bn) of bonds by October, and the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors announces a trial programme for cash tender offers for corporate bonds in the interbank market.