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Westpac, one of Australia’s leading banks, is developing its broader Asian franchise with a clutch of senior appointments in Hong Kong. Alex Tam is joining from HSBC to be head of corporate and institutional banking for Hong Kong, while Steven Yu comes from Deutsche Bank to run Trade Sales in North Asia.

Nobody believes that Danièle Nouy, the chair of the European Central Bank’s new single supervisory board, will allow any European financial institution to fail. On Sunday she was reported to have said that this is what the market expects — but that couldn't be further from the truth.

It doesn’t matter whether Germany accepts the European Central Bank’s Outright Monetary Transactions scheme or not. Draghi's plan has done its job and if the ECB ever needs to invent a new capital markets bazooka to point at a troublesome debt crisis it can simply invent a new one.

One month into the reopening of China’s equity market and the doomongers that had predicted a resulting dire year for Hong Kong IPOs are noticeably quieter. But while A-shares are certainly enjoying a revival, Hong Kong still has the edge when it comes to pricing and pipeline.

Once again the CEEMEA bond market has bounced back from yet another emerging markets slump. Borrowers from both ends of the credit spectrum are pricing successful bonds just days after fears that the fundamental bid for emerging market risk was set to crumble. The fact that these dire predictions have once again proved misplaced should serve as rejoinder for those who fail to appreciate emerging market investors’ commitment to the asset class, which is now much larger and less optional to buyers than when the collapse of Lehman Brothers shut it in 2008.

The dim sum market has had a great start to the year, with record volumes in January. But strong primary issuance masks a systemic problem — a lack of liquidity. A more regular auction programme of Chinese government issuance is unlikely soon, which means few others are likely to be tempted into big issuance. In the absence of volume, diversification should be the priority if the market is to develop.

Sukuk’s advantageous pricing for borrowers over conventional bonds in recent years has evaporated in the Gulf – leaving only disadvantageous structuring costs in the Islamic market – but it does not follow that sukuk volumes are going to disappear too. Far from changing tack to bonds, for those who can issue both the rationale to favour sukuk is stronger than ever.

It has been a horrific time. A festival of cheesy cantopop, embarrassing dancing, deafening noise, excessive food, too many people and not enough space. A tale of sound and fury.

The most shocking part of the US Federal Reserve’s decision to taper another $10bn of quantitative easing last week was not that it continued steamroller-like with its plan despite the volatility in the emerging markets. It was that it failed to even acknowledge the crisis EM is facing as a result of its actions.

One year after SoftBank bought US mobile carrier Sprint, founder Masayoshi Son wants rival T-Mobile USA. To succeed he needs approval from a skeptical watchdog, and would have to add to SoftBank’s hefty leverage. It’s a big gamble. Peter McGill reports.

ECM business boomed in southeast Asia during the last two years, giving banks some respite from the shutdown of China’s IPO pipeline. But as political tensions mount and countries in the region face uncertain elections, it time for desks to refocus on north Asia.

ECM business boomed in southeast Asia during the last two years, giving banks some respite from the shutdown of China’s IPO pipeline. But as political tensions mount and countries in the region face uncertain elections, it time for desks to refocus on north Asia.