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In the first instalment of our 2017 awards, we present the full write-ups of the winners for Best Investment Grade Syndicated Loan, Best High Yield Syndicated Loan, Best Leveraged/Acquisition Finance, Best Loan and Best Loans House.

The People’s Bank of China announces new rules to promote cross-border RMB transactions, HSBC plans to launch a new service in Poland to capture business opportunities related to the Belt and Road Initiative, and Agricultural Bank of China obtained approvals for new branches in Southeast Asia.

Banks have been pushed by new regulation to reveal their new issue bond fees for the first time, potentially shaking up competition in European DCM. But confusion over the rules has meant no consensus on how to share the information, leaving underwriters and issuers alike to improvise in the first week of MiFID II.

The largest and darkest clouds that hung over Europe's banks appear to have all but cleared in time for the new year.

Among the many miseries perpetrated by MiFID, there’s one aspect which has particularly caught this newspaper’s eye: the disclosure of the fees paid to banks for new bond issues.

The illustrations on these pages display the results of GlobalCapital's survey of the outlooks for market activity in 2018 of leading investment banks in ECM. Seventeen banks took part in the survey, including seven of the top eight firms. By Jon Hay, Sam Kerr, Aidan Gregory

GlobalCapital looks at the most popular sovereign, supranational and agency deals of 2017 — as voted on BondMarker. Read on to see if one of your trades made the cut.

At some point on Christmas Day, after I had polished off several plates of turkey with all the trimmings, six mince pies and half a Christmas pudding, I began to wonder whether or not I was living a healthy lifestyle. I decided that, yes, I probably was.

We’re very sorry to announce that professor Richard Roberts, who wrote the ‘Old Money’ column for GlobalCapital, passed away just before Christmas. He is survived by a wife, Sarah, and two daughters.

The Chinese regulator’s decision to kick-start a pilot scheme that will allow mainland-based holders of Hong Kong-listed stocks to convert them into H-shares is a big move, with many advantages for both stockholders and the city’s equity market. But it’s not time to crack open the champagne just yet. If the past is any example, progress will be slow at best.

Green finance, once a niche experiment, has become central to capital markets. This is just the beginning. The market still needs to find its true role, but private sector interest and public support are snowballing. By Jon Hay.

MiFID II is finally upon us. To many, it is simply a monster compliance burden. But in the world of equity trading and research, the effects could be profound. In 2018 for the first time, most asset managers will be paying for research out of their own money. If that means research provision is decimated, it could be bad news for small companies — and new research models may be needed. Jon Hay reports.