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Ewald Nowotny, governor of the Bank of Austria, has long been counted as having one of the more hawk-like squawks among members of the European Central Bank's governing council. But even he caused a shock this week with his discussion of impending rate hikes.

In the past, some investors were able to draw a line dividing the Russian businesses in which they parked their cash from Vladimir Putin’s government, despite what some have called a “feudal” hierarchy in the country. Last week’s US sanctions obliterated that line.

The decision by the US Treasury last week to designate a number of Russian oligarchs and companies as sanctioned entities, in an effort to curb the country’s “worldwide malign activity”, has transformed investor sentiment and led to buyers fleeing Russia across debt and equities, write Sam Kerr and Francesca Young.

Risky assets are often beholden to perceptions of geopolitical risk, though in recent times that has been a minor factor in price movements. Perhaps this dynamic is about to change.

Hong Kong’s annual Rugby Sevens tournament has just ended, leaving bankers, executives and journalists nursing terrible hangovers and promising that next year will be different.

With dead eyes, the procession of defeated beasts shuffled forwards, waiting for the axe to fall… no, not Deutsche Bank’s fixed income traders, facing yet another round of restructuring and redundancies but a possible scene from the activities of National Beef, the business that, until recently, shared a corporate roof with Jefferies. Both were part of the conglomerate Leucadia Corporation, which also owned auto dealership Garcadia with the Garff family.

Once again, Deutsche Bank is at a crossroads. After a tough few years, it is still strong enough to fight back in global investment banking. New CEO Christian Sewing will decide whether it does. He seems rational and determined, but does he have the stomach for the battle?

China’s plans to bring its technology firms home through China Depositary Receipts (CDR) have stoked fears that Hong Kong will lose out on some coveted IPOs. But the move is really a win for Hong Kong, as it cements the city's status as the main gateway for Chinese issuers looking to raise funds internationally.

Asiamoney, in association with National Australia Bank, invites all fixed income investors in Asia and Europe to participate in the Australian Fixed Income Poll 2018. The online poll will take only five to 10 minutes to complete.

The two borrowers that closed out the first quarter with benchmarks have now been examined by the BondMarker voters.

The US president says China will lower trade barriers and make a deal with Washington, the recently merged banking and insurance watchdog officially launches, and Vanguard makes five exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available in RMB and dollars in Hong Kong.

A sovereign and an agency scored the most popular deals on BondMarker in the first quarter of 2018. The top five deal scores of Q1 2018 were very close — less than a quarter of a point separates first place from fifth.