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China’s domestic green bond market is finally set to open with Industrial Bank poised to become the first issuer, having received the People’s Bank of China’s approval this week.

Andrew Géczy is leaving his role as chief executive officer for international and institutional banking (IIB) at Australia and New Zealand Bank to seek new opportunities.

Consensus is growing among investors and analysts that default is inevitable for Venezuela, as oil hits lows not seen in more than a decade.

While almost all financial markets have been stricken with fear so far this year, Europe's leveraged loan market has been surprisingly buoyant, with a healthy flow of deals and plenty of interest from investors — though the sister high yield market is a desert. Max Bower and Victor Jimenez report.

Emerging market bankers are saying that greater scrutiny may now need to be paid to the ratings calendar when printing bonds after Standard & Poor’s downgrade of Poland on Friday prompted one of the worst sell-offs of an EM new issue in recent memory.

Hunkemöller — Armacell — Aurora Shipping — IRES

Poland’s sovereign bond spreads are in turmoil, after a shock downgrade by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) late last week. The move follows a sharp drop in its political risk score in the latest Euromoney Country Risk (ECR) survey.

Sovereign, supranational and agency borrowers in the eurozone could receive an injection of monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank in March — boding well for a series of issuers lining up deals in euros.

The European primary market has been left almost bare this week, as a run of gloomy headlines weighed on secondary performance and left investors cautious.

The Loan Market Association (LMA) has listed the changes it believes the European Commission should make to its post-crisis financial regulation.

Lloyds Banking Group was the only FIG issuer to brave the senior unsecured dollar market this week as Wall Street’s biggest banks postponed their traditional post-earnings dash and issuance stalled at a seven-year low.

UK banks could look to stockpile their funding in 2016, as the country’s forthcoming EU membership referendum will cause capital markets to snarl up later in the year.