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You know how holidays are supposed to be fun and relaxing? Well, my friend Two Pints is probably wishing breaks never existed after his eventful Easter weekend.

Covered bonds have had a great start to 2016, in terms of supply, spread performance, and participation in the market from real money investors, but this trend is unlikely to hold. Central bank action, once again, will corrode the market from both supply and demand sides.

The endgame for the Basel Committee’s new credit risk rules is to get rid of internal models, but it just can’t get there yet.

Consolidation has been a perennial theme in Italian finance, but the country has little to show for it. This time is different.

Credit Suisse’s operational risk bond is a beautiful piece of financial engineering — an elegant demonstration that where there’s a buyer or seller, there’s a capital markets solution to a problem. But actually, what it demonstrates is the absurdity of operational risk rules.

Just when it seemed like the round of investment bank restructuring was quieting down, and moving from splashy announcement to dogged execution, along comes Credit Suisse, again.

The inevitable set of quarter end data is set to arrive as March winds down. While G3 bond volumes from southeast Asia will be disappointing, there are plenty of other reasons to be positive.

Senior managers at banks are often accused of being humourless and dour. But a good friend of mine has been pleasantly surprised to learn that they aren't always so — at least at his organisation.

HSBC reigns supreme for the fifth year running as the best overall provider of offshore RMB products and services in the largest and most competitive Offshore Renminbi (RMB) Poll.

For most of the investment bank revamps and restructuring from 2009-2014, little changed. Headcount was flat or up from 2009-2011, trending down only afterwards. For every market which was dead post-crisis, there was another which was booming. But this time it’s different; the two decade investment banking boom is over.

Adding retail investors to the buyer base of subordinated bank debt, as was suggested to the European Parliament this week, wouldn’t be nearly enough to make the Bank Resolution and Recovery Directive (BRRD) a workable, practical resolution framework. If retail are going to be allowed into the market, it shouldn’t be because their lack of expertise makes them a good foundation for a stable financial system.

The question over whether socially responsible bonds should be priced more tightly than conventional bonds is as old as the market itself. But a deal from a Dutch agency last week highlighted that running a green bond programme has advantages far beyond saving a few basis points.