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Hyundai Heavy Industries Co printed a $221.6m zero coupon exchangeable bond on June 10, ending a near two-year drought in new supply of such bonds from the country. The deal prompted a huge response, igniting debate about whether the gate has been flung open for Korea’s equity-linked market, writes John Loh.

Two of the public sector bond markets’ biggest beasts locked horns this week when they picked the same day to bring dollar benchmarks in the same maturity. But this could be the new normal.

Middle East fees for bonds have been crunched over the last year as competition heats up in the region to win mandates and other ancillary business. But issuers must be careful not to kill the golden goose.

A post-oil world is no longer a hippy fantasy. By 2100, G7 leaders have declared, the global economy should no longer be cooking on gas. Policy and markets now face profound change.

200 years might have passed since Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. But some things in war — and finance — do not change, such as the absolute importance of being ahead of the game. Nathan Rothschild cleaned up on the Gilt market thanks to his rapid, reliable, and finely honed communications system that brought him news of Wellington's victory ahead of anyone else in Westminster and the City.

Khazanah Nasional took a huge step forward for socially responsible investment (SRI) in Malaysia this month with the country’s first sukuk in the sector, adopting a unique structure that could see investors’ pay-out reduced. It is a bold move for social reform, but Khazanah’s SRI sukuk may be a bit too ahead of its time.

The transaction that was supposed to open up the additional tier one market in South Korea ended up having the opposite effect last week as Woori Bank’s penny-pinching led to a heavy sell-off in secondary. Woori is unlikely to be damaged by the incident, but it needs to recognise that its actions have consequences for the rest of the market.

Belgium is mulling an entry to the syndicated inflation linked market — just as it sold in the structure for the first time via private placements.

Having successfully scouted for food last week, Loan Ranger and his trusty deputies Tonto and Silver upgraded their mission to a hunt for history and then treasure.

HSBC global head of capital financing Spencer Lake lost no time ensuring his grasp on the International Capital Markets association when he was appointed its chair at the organisation’s annual general meeting last week.

Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional has priced the first ringgit-denominated socially responsible investment (SRI) sukuk. The product was a strong test of investor commitment to SRI goals as it uses a structure that pays less if the underlying education project is successful, writes Christina Khouri.

The stunning rise of the A-share market in China is encouraging US-listed Chinese companies to go private, with the aim of seeking better valuations with a subsequent Asian IPO. The Chinese and Hong Kong exchanges are the most likely destinations, writes Rashmi Kumar.