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Adani Transmission has priced a $310m US private placement, becoming the first Indian company to raise money in that market since 2007. Although some investors still feel scarred by an Indian incident a decade ago, many see this as the dawn of an Indian PP revival.

During a recent market consultation, Gilt investors called on the UK Debt Management Office to issue floating rate notes linked to Sonia, the Bank of England’s recommended replacement for Libor. There are plenty of reasons why this is a good idea.

Some weird genetic mutations have been appearing in the hothouse of sustainable finance, where new green products are cultivated to beautify the grandees of the capital markets.

Demand for covered bonds has surged higher in recent weeks, even though yields in the asset class have plunged lower. But issuers should not get too excited, as the balance of power is sure to tilt back in the favour of investors if yields carry on falling.

Loans bankers pride themselves on not succumbing to the knee-jerk reactions of their colleagues on the bonds desk. But the Libor transition is highlighting serious flaws in this approach and it is causing alarm among corporate treasurers.

In this round-up, Chinese vice premier Han Zheng said China will further remove barriers of entry for foreign investment and lower its tariffs and Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou is still waiting for a ruling on her extradition to the United States.

In this round-up, the International Monetary Fund revised its forecast on Chinese economic growth upwards to 6% in 2020, Chinese banking institutions recorded more assets but also more liabilities last year and the Securities Association of China updated its guidelines on due diligence for corporate bond underwriters.

Seen with cynical eyes, the launch of JP Morgan’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) is simply an attempt to expand its emerging markets footprint — already the largest in the business — by capitalising on two trends: the wave of cash fleeing low yields for EM, and the unassailable momentum of the socially responsible investment movement.

Does complaining about technology make me a curmudgeon? Then so be it.

Ant Financial’s planned Hong Kong listing is just one of many jumbo deals that could land on the bourse this year. But few issuers will have such a clear path to success. The Alibaba halo should not be underestimated.

The Asian bond market has been red hot since the start of 2020. With nearly every day bringing a number of blowout deals, it would be easy to overlook the three borrowers that have fallen short of completing their proposed transactions. But the failed deals may be a sign of things to come.

In this round-up, China and Myanmar have signed deals on Belt and Road projects, the central bank has kept the benchmark lending rates unchanged, and overseas investors increased their holdings of Chinese bonds and stocks by $128bn in 2019.