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Credit events are a serious business. With billions of dollars at stake via credit default swaps on many of the large companies that enter the default radar, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee can’t afford to have any gray areas clouding the legitimacy of its decisions.

Bond mandates from EM credits have frequently been a quid pro quo for cheap syndicated lending. But if bank lending dries up, it could have big implications for borrowers — and the banks vying to service them.

In good times, investors trust forecasts and concentrate on individual securities. In bad times, the macro picture is all that matters – so you get a succession of hypes. Jackson Hole was the latest – it won’t be the last.

There have been few listings more eagerly anticipated than Manchester United’s pending IPO. The deal quickly became a must-have for the Singapore stock exchange, which muscled Hong Kong off the ball and won possession. Hong Kong officials should not see that as such a bad thing. This is one deal that Hong Kong could do without.

Hong Kong inflation spiralled last month, but the peg to the dollar means local authorities do not have a full toolkit to fight rising prices. That will give local account holders even more reason to convert their deposits into other currencies — something that could help broaden the offshore renminbi market.

Members of Afme’s Securitisation Division are hard at work hammering out details of the Prime Collateralised Securities initiative, hoping that regulators and politicians will let the ABS industry off the hook. But the PCS shouldn’t be a copy of covered bond standards. It should be better.

Covered bonds might be in for their biggest ratings shake-up over the next year. The result could be the loss of many traditional investors, but others will step in to take up the slack.

Contingent capital might seem like a clever tool for corporate borrowers to increase the equity credit of their hybrid securities. But investors should not get too excited: it's not time to set up that dedicated fund yet.

We asked you if the International Swaps and Derivatives Assocation should review the definition of restructuring as a credit event. Results after the jump.

The Chinese government is making the right move by auctioning Rmb20bn ($3.13bn) of offshore renminbi bonds this week, creating a curve in the nascent market. But poor liquidity means it could be several years before the government can really set a liquid benchmark for bankers to use when pricing deals. Coming to market more often would help.

Peripheral banks are struggling to tap markets, but a supranational guarantee scheme is not the easy solution it might appear to be.

We ought by now to expect eurozone leaders to avoid tough decisions. So the buy and sell sides should get used to a world where crisis is the norm, and get on with doing some business. Lots of credits are still good credits: one shouldn't let an inhospitable market interfere.