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Independent firms were the big winners of the 2008 financial meltdown. But they will find the Covid-19 crisis tougher to navigate, as they grapple with a unique set of challenges, writes David Rothnie.

Deutsche Bank on Wednesday released a stellar set of results for origination for the second quarter, compared with consensus estimates, its previous results and to a lesser extent competitors. Henrik Johnsson, co-head of European banking and capital markets, said that the bank’s strengths became more valuable during the coronavirus crisis.

When the European Central Bank (ECB) is suggesting the additional tier-one market could cost the euro area up to 0.25% of GDP growth in the next year and a half, it is probably time to start thinking about reforming the asset class.

The European Stability Mechanism stands ready to lend eurozone countries up to 2% of their GDP at negative rates — but in spite of the clear cost savings compared to market funding, countries have yet to take up the offer. It is time to rid ESM lending of its stigma.

The UK government looks ever more likely to create a new public sector bank focused on green infrastructure. Policy experts welcome the prospect, but there would be many choices to make over the structure and financing of the organisation.

The European Central Bank said on Tuesday that it would not be pushing banks to meet their Pillar 2 guidance or their combined buffer requirements until at least the end of 2022, as part of its efforts to encourage more lending to the real economy.

HSBC has become the latest bank to create a dedicated team for sustainable finance amid the coronavirus crisis. This is part of a new strategic solutions group, which will also house two other solutions units: one for corporate finance, and one for financial institutions and capital.

Two former bond bankers at Citi have set up a workflow and analytics platform to help improve the efficiency of debt capital markets desks at investment banks.

In a world first this week, 23-year-old student and Australian retail government bond investor Katta O’Donnell filed a legal challenge against the sovereign on Wednesday, claiming that the government does not do enough to disclose the risks of climate change to investors. If successful, the case could change issuers’ obligations regarding climate risk disclosure.

EU leaders spent 91 of the 120 hours available at their Special European Council, which concluded on Tuesday, thrashing out the bloc’s new €1.82tr budget — including the €750bn recovery fund — dubbed Next Generation EU. The decision spells dramatic changes not just for the eurozone but for its bond markets, writes Lewis McLellan.

The double whammy of coronavirus and a crisis at the top of the bank makes the most testing of times for the new head of Commerzbank’s corporate clients division to make his mark. But Roland Boekhout has a broad vision for the firm’s corporate and investment bank and ideas for how to implement it, writes David Rothnie.

Reports that the European Central Bank (ECB) could ask banks to suspend dividend payments until the end of 2020 sent subordinated debt higher and stocks lower this week.