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Emmanuel Macron’s two-stage victory in the French presidential election rightly brought relief to the eurozone bond markets — as well as to all those who believe in the European project as a force for good. But talk of a Macron presidency opening the way for further European integration in the form of jointly issued eurozone bonds is far too early.

The quarter-end and year-end problems in the repo market are scary enough, with collateral more important than ever before in financial markets. But what else is it concealing?

It's time for a Russia comeback. The sanctions remain as firmly in place as ever, and banks and investors have been clamouring for deals. But now, at last, compliance has caught up - and that means a bonanza for borrowers awaits.

IRB InvIT Fund brought India’s first infrastructure investment trust to market last week, making history with its Rp46.5bn ($727.4m) IPO. Books closed with demand for nearly 9x the shares available, in a huge boon for the asset class. But while the trade sets a high bar, future issuers need not follow its template.

While markets are toasting Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential election, Europe still has plenty to do, and Brexit still hangs heavy over the finance industry.

China’s FX reserves grow for a third consecutive month in April, the head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) says China will not devalue renminbi, and HKEX plans to launch CNH and USD gold futures.

A stronger yen-won exchange rate underlines Japan’s perception of safety with Seoul now plunged into a crisis, awaiting elections and wary of tensions escalating on the Korean Peninsula.

In this week’s round-up, Fidelity’s Shanghai-based wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) launches its first private fund, only two foreign investors were given qualified foreign institutional investor and RMB QFII quotas in April, and the dim sum bond market continued its decline in the first quarter.

In the latest Clawback, columnist Philippe Espinasse turns his focus to the listing of infrastructure project companies in Hong Kong, saying that IPOs of Belt and Road issuers could be a big challenge.

The votes have been counted and the GC BondMarker verdict has been reached for last week's trades. See how they stacked up.

European regulators are finally on the road to creating suspension mechanisms similar to those used in the US, an evolution that should not stop at clearing.

The traditional reasons that issuers pay investment banks are being eroded by regulation. But the staggeringly costly compliance and back office infrastructure is increasingly valuable.