JP Morgan

The start to 2016’s equity capital markets business in Europe has been tricky, but the action on Tuesday showed that high quality deals can get done very well, provided they come in a suitable window.

The Inter-American Development Bank raised $3bn on Thursday amid a buoyant dollar market for public sector borrowers at the start of 2016.

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has completed a Sr7.75bn ($2bn) package of loans by signing a $1.4bn three year revolving credit facility in London this week.

A South Korean deal kicked open the Asian block market this week but complications in the execution have set a negative tone for the country’s equity capital markets, where numerous share sales are expected in 2016. Jonathan Breen reports.

Swire Properties received a good reception for its $500m bond on January 6, capturing an order book that was more than three times bigger thanks to its safe haven status in a volatile market.

Wednesday brought red back to equity traders' screens after a buoyant Tuesday, but trading action confirmed the satisfactory execution of this year’s first two substantial equity capital markets deals in Europe: the €1.03bn block trade in NN Group, the Dutch insurer, and French aerospace firm Safran’s €650m convertible.

Blockchain, the technology underlying bitcoin, is coming to a back office, and clearing house, and bank, and front office near you. Instead of one authority keeping records, everyone will. That’s the idea, anyway, of a wave of start-ups rushing to build workable applications. How will clarity emerge from this ferment, and just how will it change the business of capital markets? Jon Hay reports.

Crashing commodity prices and an increasingly intense focus on compliance and reputation has made launching international bonds in Africa much tougher over the past year. Many banks are wondering whether the risks are still worth the reward. Francesca Young reports.

The Inter-American Development Bank is the latest issuer to enter a red hot dollar market, after KommuneKredit and the Asian Development Bank raised money on Wednesday.

Westpac NZ launched a sterling senior bond on Wednesday and Santander UK will soon follow with a debut holdco deal, as FIG's first signs of life in 2016 favour the UK market.

Europe's equity capital market lost no time in hitting back after the scary start of Monday, when world markets tumbled after China's stockmarket went into freefall and Saudi Arabia and Iran's war of words became more rancorous.

Hong Kong real estate giant Swire Properties and the Korea Development Bank have launched the first investment grade bonds from Asia for 2016, opening books for dollar-denominated transactions on January 6.