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The reformed EU Emissions Trading System has produced a sharp rise in the carbon price since November — which ought to spur industry to cut CO2 emissions faster. Yet because of the complex way European energy policy works, the pace of reductions is likely to slow, according to Moody’s.

The European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) decision to fine five Nordic banks last week has raised two questions: just how consistently will rules be applied across Europe, and is it even appropriate that they are?

Your humble columnist is hardly the typical follower of #metoo. I’m an aging colonial with a drinking habit, a Marco Polo Diamond card, and a storied career in the financial markets. But even I occasionally brace at the nonchalant dismissal of the opposite sex.

As Asian exchanges increasingly embrace the US model for new listings — the introduction of variable voting rights being a case in point — disintermediated IPOs may perhaps soon be the next fad, writes Clawback.

Bond index providers are racing to include Chinese bonds in their benchmarks. But before taking the leap, they should study a recent decision on A-share inclusion — and the sceptical response it got from investors.

Eskom’s return to markets this week is the latest example of how the best bet in the emerging markets is often not on how strong a company is, but how strong its friends are. That is a lesson well remembered for investors, as EM hits a rocky patch.

The UK government is completely mishandling Brexit and its abandonment of financial services in negotiations has cast a cloud over the City. The government must now fix the situation via the most pragmatic Brexit possible — a bid to remain in the European Economic Area (EEA).

There was a time, not so very long ago, that Barclays and Deutsche Bank seemed to be plunging down the same path together. Fixed income flow monsters both, the two firms unveiled superficially similar revamps in 2014 and 2015, driven by the same structural imperatives. In the last year though, the pair couldn’t have been more different.

World Bank’s $5bn July 2021 was the solitary benchmark available for BondMarker scoring in the week commencing July 16 — and voters rewarded the supranational for picking a window that it had all to itself.

Index provider FTSE Russell will consider the inclusion of Chinese government bonds in its benchmark later this year, Hong Kong puts aside $10m for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and China’s FX watchdog publishes a guide on capital account management in Belt and Road countries.

The renminbi is the fifth most used payments currency in the world despite a fall in payments value in June, credit rating agencies in China are set to undergo a review by commercial banks, and the asset management arm of UBS starts a fund to tap both onshore and offshore Chinese stocks.

Xi calls on other countries to fight protectionism, the Chinese government modifies fiscal policy to support the central bank’s easing of monetary policy, and the securities watchdog hints at the return of stock index futures.