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The stars are not aligning for mezzanine loans in leveraged finance this year. While investors would still love to play, they are being pushed out as borrowers have too many cheaper options.

The Financial Conduct Authority gained powers to regulate competition last week. If investment banking as we know it is going to survive, banks need to be able to prove their hands are clean.

The eurozone’s banking system is bloated, overpopulated and, from the point of view of lending, inert. It is a problem that can be fixed, but national authorities, too bogged down by national politics, aren’t the ones that are going to do it.

Moody’s certainly seems to be doing its best to be left off Scotland’s list of approved rating agencies when that country issues its debut bond — something its government was granted powers to do last year.

Taiwan’s TPK Holding raised $384m from a simultaneous convertible bond and placement of shares, this week, bringing welcome relief to the equity-linked drought in Asia ex-Japan. The overwhelming investor response and solid aftermarket performance proved there is a hunger for paper, writes Rashmi Kumar. But the market is only open for the right names at the right terms, bankers warned.

When I slipped on the banker’s version of smart casual (blazer, shirt and chinos) and headed off to the Hong Kong Sevens, I was gearing myself up for a memorable weekend.

GF Securities powered its HK$27.9bn ($3.60bn) IPO to a triumphant finish after investors swarmed into the trade, allowing it to price the shares at the top of the range. But a heavily oversubscribed book and the issuer’s insistence on taking an active role meant allocations proved a tough task. John Loh reports.

China’s struggling property sector got a much needed boost this week after the Chinese authorities introduced a new set of supportive measures. The new rules will not be a quick fix to the real estate industry’s problems, but they have prompted renewed interest in its bonds, writes Rev Hui.

Two big loans to back European acquisitions by Asian borrowers have underscored the strong appetite in the region for outbound M&A. But the deals may not help syndicated loan volumes in Asia. They are likely to be mostly sold into the European market, where there has been pricing compression, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

Greece is planning to issue a perpetual zero coupon bond as a solution to its debt sustainability challenges.

Kazakh borrowers are sitting on a great window to arrange loans if they need them, even if banks are playing tougher on price.

The spread between the weakest and strongest covered bonds is tighter than at any point in the last five years, thanks to the European Central Bank’s backstop bid. But just because the ECB is willing to buy anything and everything that qualifies as a covered bond, that doesn’t mean investors should.