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I spend a lot of my time bemoaning how hard bankers have it today, as shrinking bonus pools and ever-increasing compliance chip away at the joys of investment banking. But every once in a while, a friend will show me that it can still provide some perks.

The coming of bitcoin futures could open the floodgates for Wall Street money, rapidly multiplying the global financial system’s exposure to the original cryptocurrency. But the bitcoin community is not united about what the asset should be and, as a result, it remains uniquely volatile.

The IPOs of two Indian government-owned insurance firms have disappointed on their debuts recently, after they were bailed out by a fellow state-backed insurer. The deals are the clearest sign yet that Life Insurance Corp (LIC) needs to stop meddling in government share sales and let the market take its course.

The hubbub over China’s five-yearly Party Congress is now behind us and the country’s regulators are ready to get back to business. In that vein, unusually forceful comments from Zhou Xiaochuan, outgoing governor of the People's Bank of China, on the urgency of deleveraging are more than welcome.

China’s extraordinary liberalisation of its financial markets last week, which cleared the way for foreign ownership of a range of financial institutions, has only found mild enthusiasm among foreign banks so far. They can be forgiven for not immediately breaking out the champagne.

The European Securities and Markets Authority issued a warning on initial coin offerings on Monday, suggesting the unconventional capital raising tool may be subject to EU securities regulation.

The People’s Bank of China gives foreign institutional investors greenlight to trade derivatives in the interbank bond market, Silk Road Fund sets up investment platform with a General Electric (GE) subsidiary to target Belt and Road energy projects, and the trading volume for Singapore Exchange (SGX) offshore renminbi (CNH) futures falls in October.

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The deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China says foreign companies will be treated on an equal basis with their Chinese peers, two foreign fund managers obtain private fund management (PFM) licences through their wholly foreign owned enterprises (WFOE), and Goldman Sachs sets up an investment fund with China’s sovereign wealth fund targetting US companies.

SSAs have for several years avoided prefunding, with the cost of carry one good reason not to. But with conditions so good, it could be time to rethink that strategy.

Asia's banking landscape is more competitive than ever, with firms fighting for the smallest of scraps from clients. Companies too are taking full advantage, unashamedly making bankers jump through hoops to do their bidding.

China has long been cautious about opening up its capital markets as it learn from the lessons of other economies. But while such prudence has helped China avoid a crisis, it must not turn succumb to hubris and a wholesale rejection of the West’s experience.