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How that deal was done, and how the former Lehman Brothers bankers are rebuilding their investment banking pipeline — and firing again in fixed income. David Rothnie reports.

The Federal Republic of Germany will price its first dollar benchmark in more than four years next week. The sovereign this week mandated Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, Deutsche Bank and HSBC for a three year deal that is expected to be at least $3bn.

Eurex is preparing to launch a new BTP futures contract on September 14 in a move to provide European government bond traders and swap dealers with the means to hedge basis risk between Bunds and other sovereign debt.

The securitisation market is experiencing a wave of optimism not seen since, well, this time last year. It might still have several key areas of uncertainty to deal with but the time is right for a — cautious — issuer to test the water.

The "small bang" protocol for new contract provisions in the European CDS market was introduced only last month but is to be tested in coming days as the market wrestles with the possibility of insufficient deliverable obligations following the Thomson credit event.

Settled purchases under the European Central Bank’s covered bond purchase programme reached Eu6.299bn on Thursday, just over 10% of the Eu60bn that has been earmarked for the scheme.

The European Commission has ploughed ahead with its reform of banking regulation, publishing a consultation paper on a framework for counter-cyclical capital buffers and changes to the risk weighting of mortgages.

For all the talk of emerging markets and European potential, the US is still the market that matters most in investment banking, argues David Rothnie. That makes BarCap’s Lehman acquisition look smarter than ever.

The Bank of England revealed details of its scheme to support the sterling asset backed commercial paper market this week but was greeted with a collective shrug of the shoulders from unimpressed structurers and dealers who gave the programme little hope of success.

The International Organisation of Securities Commissions has published guidance on due diligence for investment in structured finance instruments (SFIs) by collective investment schemes.

Zurich Finance priced a callable lower tier two deal last week in yet another encouraging sign that the once-moribund subordinated market is returning to health. But while undoubtedly a positive development, dated callable deals are more likely to be museum pieces than everyday flow.

The corporate bond market is still taking baby steps towards the rehabilitation of risky credits, but last week’s Fiat and Gazprom deals illustrate just how many it’s taking, and in such quick succession, too.