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Luxembourg’s decision to issue its debut sukuk in euros seems to defy common sense, since it will be selling into a Gulf-dominated market where most investors are fixated on dollars. But the grand duchy is right to stick with the currency and sukuk market participants should welcome this unusual choice.

KfW threw down the gauntlet to other issuers with its debut green bond this week by adding another factor to reporting standards: impact reporting. Investors clearly like it — Tuesday’s deal at €1.5bn is the biggest ever new issue green bond in the sovereign, supranational and agency sector. But it is good to see KfW pioneering new green features, it won’t be good for the market if every issuer rushes to include it.

Recent comments about the de-dollarisation of financial markets and the wider adoption of the renminbi by countries like Russia have been met with incredulity in some quarters. But while the dollar will retain its reserve currency status for many years to come, the fact such talk exists shows how far the RMB has come in a very short time.

Banco Espirito Santo offered a welcome chance to re-evaluate a proposition that nobody really believed anyway. The market didn't take it.

Bankers have begun using standby letters of credit (SBLCs) to price convertible bonds coming from sectors that might otherwise make investors a bit jittery. The tactic works when used responsibly, but bankers need to avoid it for companies that have no business being in the capital markets.

It is a fine testament to the growing stature of Islamic finance that various novel borrowers are pressing ahead to issue international sukuk for the first time — the likes of Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Dogus Group among them. But with so many debuts revving up to join an autumnal convoy, those that can beat the traffic are advised to do so.

I rarely find myself involved with scandal these days but that’s not to say I didn’t encounter my fair share in my youth. After all-night parties at the China Club, I’d be on my sixth espresso and at my desk by 7:30am. Let’s just say there were whole deals I couldn’t remember the next day.

It is a fine testament to the growing stature of the Islamic finance market that various novel borrowers are pressing ahead with plans to issue international sukuk for the first time — the likes of Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Dogus Group among them. But with so many debut deals revving up to join an autumnal convoy, those that can beat the traffic are advised to do so.

The list of potential issuers looking to pursue a dual currency IPO in Hong Kong just keeps getting longer. Hong Kong Airlines is the latest said to be interested in a listing in Hong Kong dollars and RMB. But the fact that no firms have ever gone through with the idea makes it clear that the market is not buying into the innovation.

Amid more deals coming to market in recent weeks, there has been much talk about a potential relaunch in Hong Kong of WH Group’s IPO, a deal that was famously pulled last April after a mammoth syndicate of 29 bookrunners failed to secure interest from investors, writes Philippe Espinasse.

More than half a decade after the crisis, one bank has seen fit to make sure its compliance professionals actually know what compliance is and how to be a professional at it.

I often think it’s an accumulation of the small things that brings a man down. The Sunday paper arriving with the motoring section missing, finding there are no Nespresso capsules left, an overcooked steak at lunch, that sort of thing.