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As Belarus received a $500m credit line from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation and Development (EFSD) this week, loans bankers said they are not leaping forward to arrange a loan for the sovereign. But Russian banks were still active in the country.

UBS has joined a growing list of European banks ramping up their senior holding company level issuance in 2016, printing a large three tranche deal in dollars as demand for the product surges.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese payment infrastructure firm CIPS Corp on March 25. The organisations will co-operate to improve the China cross-border interbank payment system (CIPS) ahead of the launch of its next development stage in 2017.

Trafigura, the commodity trading company, cut the margin of its European loan in its latest refinancing to the lowest level since before the global financial crisis, but also received fewer commitments.

Holders of Mozambique’s “tuna bonds” have until close of business on Tuesday to accept a restructuring proposal after an early bird deadline was extended.

A $400m loan for Turkish industrial holding company Borusan is very near completion. The deal is a rare Turkish corporate syndicated loan but many of the lenders are still domestic banks, according to one banker.

The Bank of England has raised its countercyclical buffer in response to the UK’s looming European Union referendum, as it tries to ensure banks will continue to lend in the event of a ‘Brexit’ vote.

Egypt’s Banque Misr is finalising its second syndicated loan in over a decade, a murabaha deal for $200m.

Ahli Bank Qatar is embarking on a series of investor meetings for its debut bond, a Reg S dollar benchmark.

Heightened talk around Brexit is adding to the pressure on UK credit spreads and, combined with European Central Bank promises of an investment grade corporate bond purchase programme, causing British names to underperform their eurozone peers. But market participants say this presents a buying opportunity as a reversal could follow.

Covered bond primary activity slowed this week with just two €500m seven year trades emerging from banks in the Netherlands and Italy.

HSBC reigns supreme for the fifth year running as the best overall provider of offshore RMB products and services in the largest and most competitive Offshore Renminbi (RMB) Poll.