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Hong Kong IPO issuance has seen healthy volumes so far this year. At $68.3bn, according to Dealogic, new listings on HKEx have already reached the level achieved for the entire year in 2014. The outcome of deals, however, remains heavily dependent on cornerstone investors, while oversized syndicates have sadly been back in full force since at least late spring, writes Philippe Espinasse.

Pity the poor bank analyst (or journalist) trying to make sense of the third quarter reporting season. If you see your research guy, maybe buy them a beer.

Deutsche Bank’s new chief executive John Cryan tops the charts for headline job losses —35,000 compared to less than 3,000 announced at Credit Suisse last week — but his plan for the investment bank is far less radical.

In a rare move, China International Capital Corp (CICC) has named all 11 banks working on its HK$6.29bn ($811.61m) high-profile Hong Kong IPO as joint global co-ordinators. But instead of sparking a turf war among its syndicate, the move has won praise from bankers on the trade. John Loh reports.

Indonesia’s Trikomsel Oke looks set to miss a payment on its Singapore dollar bonds, the first such case in more than six years in the city-state. Although the move is expected to increase volatility in the short term, sources hope it will also shake up any complacency in the market, writes Narae Kim.

Standard Chartered is to close its equity derivatives and convertible bonds businesses in yet another move to bolster its performance by withdrawing from non-core operations. But its timing has surprised some market watchers, who expect a turnaround in equity-linked activity. John Loh reports.

You would have thought that a managing partner who oversees capital markets for one of the world's top law firms would be able to hold his nerve in most situations. But a friend of mine has been forced to accept that there are some things he’s simply not cut out for.

China’s growing securitization market is set for another boost with Bank of Communications (BoCom) poised to become the country’s second issuer of credit card ABS.

The central bank of Laos has rolled out a debut offshore syndication of up to $200m as it looks to diversify its funding channels. It has decided to take a strategic approach to its financing by tapping only a select pool of liquidity, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

Banks may have become safer places to invest, but investors in senior unsecured bank debt have been shunted down the capital structure. However, senior spreads do not reflect this new credit risk, especially compared with covered bond spreads.

The Middle East has gone from one of the most boring regions in emerging markets to one of the most interesting, which is a good thing — not least because rates buyers are turning central and eastern Europe into a snooze-fest.

Chinese borrowers have unsettled loans bankers by either slashing the size or the margin of their dollar loans at the last minute. The moves have been criticised by lenders forced to gain approvals from their credit committees all over again. But banks need to adapt quickly. With China’s credit environment changing at such a rapid pace, such tactics are only likely to become more frequent.