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A first sign of whether the UK will choose to diverge from EU financial regulation after Brexit could come when mandatory buy-in rules enter into force. This is because the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has proposed postponing the rules that govern what happens when a securities trade fails until February 2021, after the Brexit transition period ends.

Interdealer brokers are facing potential disruption after a new platform, AiX, announced its intention this week to compete for their fees with artificial intelligence technology that aims to replace some of the functions of human brokers.

Société Générale grew revenues while keeping costs steady in its markets and investor services activities in the fourth quarter. Bondholders will have also welcomed a boost to the bank’s capital ratio.

Stephen Moss and Nuno Matos have been given new roles of responsibility for Europe at HSBC, ahead of expected restructuring of the group in that region, particularly in global banking and markets (GBM).

BNP Paribas expects to buck the trend of malaise at European investment banks and grow its revenues this year, it said in its fourth quarter results on Wednesday.

The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) released initial price guidance for a tenge-denominated five year bond on Wednesday morning in London.

The Bank for International Settlements published a paper this week in which it suggested that supervisory authorities might need to introduce ‘prudential backstops’ to ensure that banks are valuing Level 3 assets appropriately.

Qatar National Bank has tightened price guidance for its second international bond of this year and books are already in excess of 3bn for the $1bn-maximum trade.

The Republic of Ghana printed a $3bn triple trancher on Tuesday from a book that was $14bn at launch, in a deal that included the longest ever bond from sub-Saharan Africa.

Coronavirus fears are weighing heavy on some investors’ minds, but the mood among EM investors is buoyant as EM debt inflows reached $29.7bn in January. That was almost as much as the 2019 Q4 total of $31.4.bn, according to the Institute of International Finance.

The Republic of Poland has printed €1.5bn 0% 2025s on Monday, selling the deal at 100.512 to give the first ever negative yield in euros — minus 0.102% — from any global EM issuer.

The Republic of Ghana has released price guidance for a dollar amortising triple tranche bond, including a deal with a 40 year weighted average life — the longest ever from a sub-Saharan African issuer, according to a lead manager on the note.