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It’s time to get the toughest deals done as market conditions are likely to deteriorate in the autumn, when a second coronavirus wave and a more material deterioration in banks’ balance sheets could knock sentiment.

Short sellers who for years have complained that BaFin, the German financial markets regulator, ignored their criticisms of Wirecard, the collapsed payments company, and instead prosecuted the critics, have begun to be vindicated with the news that the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has opened a review into the organisation. By Silas Brown.

The European Stability Mechanism was set up in 2012 as a backstop for euro area member states that were unable to access the capital markets during the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. GlobalCapital spoke to Siegfried Ruhl, the ESM’s head of funding and investor relations to see how the institution is once again looking to play a crucial role to support the bloc through its Pandemic Crisis Support credit lines and how this will be financed.

This year has been a strange one on many fronts, but one of the oddest things we’ve been forced to confront is the virtual meeting.

The GlobalCapital Covered Bond Awards survey is now open and market participants are invited to take a look at the voting shortlists before casting their votes for this year’s best lead managers, issuers and deals.

Andreas Petrie, who is thought of as being a key figure in cultivating the Schuldschein market into an established corporate alternative to bonds in Europe, is to retire at the end of the year.

GlobalCapital is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Americas Derivatives Awards. This year’s pitching process was one like no other as the Covid-19 crisis swept throughout the world.

Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, has already thrown some cash from the air to boost the economy and prevent a more serious downturn, with job retention measures, a cut in VAT and meal vouchers. But that won’t be enough. The UK needs a full scale helicopter drop.

India’s banking sector has long been in trouble. However, while a few banks can appeal to the equity capital markets to restore their capital levels — and their reputations — this won’t be easy or cheap.

The Australian short seller, John Hempton of Bronte Capital, told investors that the profits his hedge fund Bronte Capital made on Wirecard’s collapse will not make up losses incurred during his lengthy short of the German payments company. It was an illustration, he said, of the dangers of betting against frauds and highlights the importance of risk management.

GlobalCapital’s Covered BondMarker shows that the five highest scoring covered bonds this year were all issued by French banks. And, based on the Covered BondMarker League Table, ING has, on average, joint lead managed more high ranking deals than any other bank in the past 12 months.

Each week, Keeping Tabs brings you the very best of what we have found most useful, interesting and informative from around the web. This week: liquidity in the age of central banks, making bank capital green, and US fiscal stimulus.