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The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China is taking its toll on Asia's capital markets. Many countries have acted quickly to contain the disease as much as possible, leaving investors, bankers and companies with capital market ambitions in limbo, with many forced to cancel travel plans and work from home. The outbreak shows no signs of abating — but it may not mar the capital markets for long.

Erste Group issued the best covered bond in January according to GlobalCapital’s newly updated BondMarker — which is now derived from facts, as opposed to survey-based opinion.

In this round-up, UBS expects China’s GDP growth to drop to 3.8% in the first quarter due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Hong Kong banks shut branches to limit the virus spread and Chinese regulators step in with stablising measures for financial markets.

For well over a decade, the cornerstone of the European Investment Bank’s sustainability funding policy has been the conviction that the financial services industry has a pivotal role to play in spearheading the battle against climate change. As the EU’s climate bank, it has also consistently recognised its responsibility for developing best practice, which in turn helps promote enhanced environmental and social standards across the global financial community.

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.