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Investors shrugged off concerns about contagion to other eurozone countries from Greece’s stand-off with its creditors on Tuesday, as they flooded into Ireland’s first ever 30 year syndication. Greek yields also screamed lower during the day after its finance minister hinted that the country’s new government might not pursue a debt write-down, while fellow bail-out recipient Cyprus returned to bill auctions.

A 367 day loan? Could that have been designed to tick a regulatory box? Of course it could. But don't scoff - banks have always gone right up to the line of compliance - and they always will.

Capital Markets Union merits the three capital letters. It is a grandiose project planned by a Commission which is fresh to the task, full of energy, and dealing with a European leadership more aware than before of the need to cooperate in economics and finance. It is also the perfect cover for a project to fix the past five years of poor regulation in Europe.

A new narrative on Greece has emerged. Syriza, the country’s recently elected left-wing party, has for months been known across Europe and across capital markets exclusively for its anti-austerity views. Now, we are hearing something at once more surprising and more worrying: that Greece, under its new government, is beginning to side with Putin’s Russia.

Volatility as a result of the Petrobras corruption scandal has shut Brazilian issuers out of capital markets since November. The government has a duty to the private sector to reopen bond markets by issuing — and now is a great time.

Standard Chartered prides itself on being an emerging markets bank, but with London being the base for its senior management, headquarters and its main board listing, there is a mismatch between the bank’s leadership and the markets in which it operates. With all the signs pointing to the exit this year of long-serving CEO Peter Sands, it’s time for the bank to end the disconnect between its head and its heart.

Not being able to understand the Greeks is not a new thing. In the Middle Ages, even those most learned of monks would sometimes put palm to face and exclaim in well-worn Latin: "Graecum est; non legitur!"

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi was worryingly late to the January press conference at which he announced the central bank would be embarking on full scale quantitative easing, but pictures released on an Italian website give clues as to why.

As expected, it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Asian IPOs so far in 2015. Macro events, chiefly in Greece and the Middle East, have taken their toll on regional issuance, as have increasing worries about China’s property sector. Even the mighty Alibaba hasn’t been immune to the doom and gloom, its share price in free-fall over a regulatory enquiry, writes Philippe Espinasse.

After the boom comes the bust. If 2014 was a banner year for offshore RMB bond issuance, things are not looking too hot for 2015. Just four deals have priced so far, with the volume raised just a quarter of last year. Dim sum bonds have been a key tool of RMB internationalisation, but changing conditions have stripped them of their appeal. It’s time for Chinese authorities to get creative.

GlobalCapital Asia held a drinks reception at Duddell’s in Hong Kong on January 28, 2015. The evening was a chance for guests to pick up their well deserved regional capital markets awards, and catch up with friends and colleagues from around the market.

Working in banking can often feel like a prison sentence – long hours, cruel compliance officers and no time off for good behaviour.