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Turkey's Vakifbank has released initial price guidance for a dollar benchmark, with the intention of printing the deal later on Wednesday.

Shane Edwards, former global head of solutions and structuring and global head of equity derivatives at UBS, has joined Diginex, a digital asset firm.

Three more CEEMEA issuers hit the screens on Wednesday with new bond mandates, but one US based EM investor said that after a stellar January he is taking stock and considering reducing his exposures.

Kristina Church has moved from Barclays to Lombard Odier Investment Managers as a senior investment strategist for sustainable investment, as the firm seeks to grow its offering in this area.

Olaf Diaz-Pintado has been named head of Goldman Sachs’s cross markets group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while the bank has appointed new regional heads for its financial and strategic investors group.

The European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed this week that it asked two financial institutions to take “remedial actions” to meet guidance levels of Pillar 2 capital.

Seen with cynical eyes, the launch of JP Morgan’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) is simply an attempt to expand its emerging markets footprint — already the largest in the business — by capitalising on two trends: the wave of cash fleeing low yields for EM, and the unassailable momentum of the socially responsible investment movement.

JP Morgan has created a Development Finance Institution (DFI), which will see its investment bank originate and distribute assets scored on their developmental impact. But specialists have questioned the bank’s ambitions and raised concerns about how this unit will operate.

Three CEE banks announced new bond issues this week. Armenia's Ardshinbank has printed a $300m five year bond, Credit Bank of Moscow sold a $600m five year and Sovcombank, another Russian bank, has released plans for a roadshow.

Three CEEMEA sovereigns — the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Romania and Ukraine — joined a market this week gripped with a frenzy of new issues. All three deals went well and drew praise and attention in their own rights.

Romania sold €1.4bn 2% 2032s and €1.6bn 3.375% 2050s on Tuesday, managing to get away half of the country’s €6bn funding target for 2020 in one swoop.

Ukraine printed its €1.25bn 10 year bond on Wednesday so far inside its own curve that its outstanding euro bonds moved 20bp tighter and its dollar bonds 10bp-15bp tighter. The deal drew a €7bn book.