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Public sector borrowers have enjoyed the finest of weeks, printing across the euro and dollar curves, finding size in sterling and Australian dollars and enjoying reopened Canadian and New Zealand dollar markets.

Cryptocurrencies overtook venture capital as the dominant form of fundraising for start-ups in 2017. Now, a grown-up, publicly listed company is getting in on the action. Investment banks would do well to take notice.

The new boss calls his team into a meeting room and delivers the speech he has spent his life preparing for. It is a moment of rhetorical genius, a rallying cry, a tour de force. Unfortunately, no one understands a word.

In the last instalment of our 2017 awards, we present the full write-ups of the winners of Best Asian Investment Bank and Best Investment Bank.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) launched a $3bn loan on Monday, the first real test of the market since Qatar’s Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) neighbours severed diplomatic ties with the sovereign. Nine banks have agreed to underwrite the full amount ahead of general syndication, showing initial fears have subsided. But the test is not over — will Qatar’s other relationship banks step up?

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s comeback plans show that there is still a big difference between tier two and additional tier one (AT1) bonds, even after the failure of Banco Popular.

European stock markets have enjoyed a solid start to 2018, led by a metals and commodities rally that has been strengthening since the beginning of autumn. But the market must consider whether the good times are organic or due to temporary measures in China.

In the third instalment of our 2017 awards, we present the full write-ups of the winners of the Best Local Currency Bond, Best High Yield Bond, Best Financial Bond, Best SSA Bond, Best Investment Grade Bond, Best Project Finance Deal, Best Bond, Best G3 and Local Currency Bond House, and Best High Yield Bond House.

DCM bankers often market Panda bonds as Belt and Road bonds, even when they have little to do with China’s landmark infrastructure plan. But in recent weeks, issuers with genuine needs for funding Belt and Road projects have started to tap the market. The change could open up a new frontier for RMB internationalisation.

The poll is open for GlobalCapital’s Equity Capital Markets Awards for 2017 and we invite market participants to have their say on the best performers of last year.

In the second instalment of our 2017 awards, we present the full write-ups of the winners for Best Follow-On/Accelerated Bookbuild, Best Equity-Linked Deal, Best IPO, Best ECM Deal and Best ECM House.

Chinese financial regulators publish fresh rules on the bond market to control leverage, China’s FX reserves grow again to $3.14tr in December, and Bank of China completes a RMB salary payment for Chinese diplomats abroad after the central bank’s call to push for cross-border RMB transactions.