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In this round-up, the Chinese Ministry of Finance (MoF) transferred 10% of its shares in three large commercial banks to the state-owned social security fund, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange is set to welcome a new chairman and the US treasury secretary has denied rumours of inaccurate translation of the phase one trade deal.

In this round-up, Chinese vice premier Liu He will visit Washington DC next Monday until Wednesday, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange sends its deputy administrator to Guangdong and the Financial Stability and Development Committee reaffirmed the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises.

In this round-up, China’s December consumer price index inflation flattened, Anhui-based Huishang Bank is considering taking over 15% of Baoshang Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is set to sell Rmb80bn ($11.5bn) of offshore perpetual bonds and onshore tier two bonds this year.

The sustainability-linked loan market is a glorious mess.

GlobalCapital is delighted to announce the nominees for this year’s Americas Derivatives awards.

The poll is open for GlobalCapital’s Equity Capital Markets Awards for 2019 and we invite market participants to have their say on the best performers of last year. The results will be announced at our fifth annual ECM Awards Dinner on Wednesday, March 18 in London — so please save the date.

I love a good story about the days gone by. I remember when liquid lunches were not just accepted but encouraged. My best ideas often came after downing martinis over a long lunch. But a recent story from Australia makes my wild days of boozy work meals look quite tame.

Asia’s debt and equity markets made a roaring start to 2020, with dollar bonds flooding the market and companies lining up for IPOs. But the first few days of the new year have also shown that issuers, capital markets bankers and investors should be prepared for some nasty surprises.

The noise about how capitalism is changing to a system in which social purpose is restored to the centre of companies' and investors' aims is now deafening. But look below the surface and the actual governance record of many companies and investors is dreadful. Most shareholders are too supine even to defend their own rights.

Capital markets went into 2020 in positive mood. That lasted for all of two working days until the US assassinated Iranian military commander, Qasem Soleimani, worrying investors that Middle East tensions were on the rise again. Nonetheless, the good feeling was not entirely soured. GlobalCapital highlights where the rest of the action will be in the year ahead.

Equity market participants were stunned last Friday after the US assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. It followed what had been a strong end to 2019 in the market with many hopeful the momentum would carry into this year. But banks and investors need to be prepared for shocks, especially as domestic pressure on US president Donald Trump increases in the run up to November's election.

Short sellers' detractors say they are detrimental to the responsible stewardship of companies. This is unfair; they can play a useful role in highlighting deceptive practices in a world of greenwashing.