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There can be little doubt that, with decentralisation becoming a bigger theme in Europe, the SSA market will be welcoming ever more sub-sovereign issuers — or agencies that offer economies of scale to clusters of local authorities, such as the UK Municipal Bonds Agency or Agence France Locale.

Sluggish syndicated loan dealflow is proving to be good news for small and mid-cap privately-owned Chinese companies like Golden Eagle Group and Xinyi Solar, which are finding themselves able to enjoy pricing levels usually reserved for better known names. And so great is bank demand for assets that looser structuring and lower amortisation are increasingly possible, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

Hong Kong has taken another step in its bid to become a regional Islamic financing hub, pricing a new $1bn sukuk this week. But rather than repeat the common ijara structure that it adopted in 2014, this time around the government chose an asset-light wakala format to set a new benchmark for its private sector, writes Rev Hui.

Asia’s first perpetual convertible bond issue in five years gave the market something to talk about when Shui On Land sold a novel $225m 7.5% deal last week. The success of the print, coupled with the shortage of new offerings, could see more perpetual CBs follow suit, writes John Loh.

What do you get when you mix a fancy three-course dinner with free flowing booze, plenty of awards, high-spirited bankers and the GlobalCapital editorial team? One helluva good night!

What has happened to Malaysia’s primary equity markets? Once the darling of ECM departments, featuring highly successful multi-billion dollar offerings by the likes of Petronas Chemicals, Felda Global Ventures or IHH Healthcare, the Southeast Asia nation now languishes at the bottom of the regional league tables, writes Philippe Espinasse.

The European Financial Stability Facility enjoyed a calmer euro market compared to the last few weeks with its second benchmark this month on Wednesday — but still opted for a defensive tenor.

The CEEMEA market has kicked into life straight after UK bank holiday, with a roadshow for the Arab Republic of Egypt announced and a Ukraine US AID backed deal being priced today. Dubai Islamic Bank meanwhile, has put out initial price guidance at 140bp over mid-swaps.

Making Capital Markets Union work will be hard without someone in charge. Maybe it should be the market.

Ratings are getting more complicated, as agencies struggle to reflect regulatory changes to bank capital structures. But sometimes, simple is best.

A move to halve the number of rolls for single name credit default swaps is a short term act of necessity. But the CDS market needs much more reform.

It's the debate that just won't die. Banks are busy issuing hybrid capital with regulatory and tier one capital triggers, but academics keep on proposing market value triggers.