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Everyone new to banking has a steep learning curve. But when you live in Asia long enough, you realise the really steep curve comes in trying to understand traditional holiday-related etiquette.

Rabobank, Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt and Société Générale issued most highly rated deals this January and BNP Paribas has, on average, worked on the most highly rated deals so far this year according to GlobalCapital's BondMarker.

The US sanctions slapped on Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) this week look similar to those that have just been removed from Russia’s EN+ and Rusal. The move indicates that the US believes in the effectiveness of sanctions and is happy to keep deploying them. Emerging markets investors should beware.

Whatever the resolution of the UK’s attempts to leave the European Union, it will likely take a long time for it to repair its reputation among investors.

Chinese new economy company Maoyan Entertainment priced its Hong Kong IPO this week, after a short delay that allowed it to add a high-profile cornerstone investor. Don’t let the deal’s bottom-of-the-range pricing fool you: the company and its banks made the right move.

In this round-up, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) hired from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for its top job, Sinopec’s trading arm revealed a substantial trading loss for last year, and the annual report from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) shows growth in both bond volumes and investor type.

In this round-up, Ping An Bank’s latest convertible bonds broke demand record, state-owned enterprises posted strong growth, and Traiana partnered with Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing to provide OTC clearing.

In this round-up, the People’s Bank of China launched the first targeted medium-term lending facility (TMLF), a central committee for deepening reform signed off on Shanghai tech board launch, and the central bank set up bills swap to support banks’ perpetual bonds.

A few years ago, artificial intelligence was only the hipster’s choice for ‘most important tech innovation in finance’. But AI is fast supplanting blockchain as The Next Big Thing in capital markets. There is a theory that cool things are no longer cool once finance types start to like them. So, in that spirit here’s ByteMe’s guide to the perils of an AI dystopia.

Japanese banks are unlikely to enjoy any let-up from razor-thin net interest margins in 2019. This is worrying for their long-term sustainability, but it’s potentially a bonanza for DCM specialists in Europe and the US.

The mornings are still dark and gloomy, but the new issue debt markets are full of sunshine. Not only is the market booming but issuers are still paying attention to syndicate advice and treading carefully, for now.

The shifting sands of bank regulation make it unlikely that it will ever be worth thinking about additional tier one bonds as perpetual instruments.