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European policymakers may decide to ramp up efforts to retain control of capital markets, amid rising Brexit tensions, the US-China dispute and the need to recover economic growth.

A year on from the closure of its flow equity trading business, Deutsche Bank’s investment bank is back in a bullish mood after performing well during the first stage of the coronavirus crisis.

Pemberton, the direct lender and asset manager part owned by Legal & General, has appointed Robert Wartchow as a portfolio manager and managing director.

The European bond market has lost none of its charm or interest, said one of its most experienced bankers this week, on the verge of his retirement. Hugh Carter, Commerzbank’s head of credit syndicate, is leaving the bank on September 18.

Barclays has appointed Todd Sandoz and Paul Leech as permanent co-heads of global equities.

The tension between the EU and UK over Brexit ratcheted up this week, with the prospect of the UK reneging on the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement rearing up. Rising political tension could now boil over into talks on financial services.

Mairead McGuinness has been chosen as the next commissioner in charge of financial services, financial stability and the Capital Markets Union at the European Commission. She replaces Valdis Dombrovskis, who is taking on the trade portfolio.

Tatjana Greil Castro has been promoted to co-head of public markets at Muzinich an investor in corporate credit.

Bankia and CaixaBank have opened a new chapter in Spanish bank consolidation, having announced that they are undergoing preliminary discussions about a merger. Analysts welcomed the development and believe that it will mark an important test for consolidation in the Spanish banking sector.

Market observers believe that investors in open-ended debt funds need to be disincentivised more than they are at present from scrambling to liquidate their holdings in a market downturn.

HSBC might be in the middle of a big restructuring, but that isn’t stopping plans to develop mid-market M&A efforts in France, Germany and Asia as well as the UK, writes David Rothnie. The bank has also bolstered its teams covering specific sectors.

The top investment banks will achieve substantially higher returns on equity this year, predicts analytics firm Coalition, after revenues in fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) soared in the first half of the year.