North America

September began with a bang for equity issuance, capped off on Wednesday by a mammoth €2.7bn share sale from Siemens Healthineers. However, the rush of deals is not just being driven by optimism. Bankers fear darker days returning.

Fast food franchise operator Yum China Holdings is cooking a multi-billion-dollar secondary offering in Hong Kong. It is the latest deal in a growing trend that bankers expect will bring more US-listed Chinese companies to the exchange by the the end of 2020, writes Jonathan Breen.

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.

Merck, the US pharmaceutical company, launched a chunky €1bn hybrid on Wednesday, as syndicate bankers said they expect even more subordinated corporate debt despite the flurry since returning from the summer break.

Chinese smart electric vehicle maker Nio has raised $1.5bn in fresh equity after increasing its follow-on offering of American Depository Shares (ADS).

This week in Keeping Tabs: the prospect of financial repression in the UK, an easier passage for emerging market central banks, and Alphabet partnering up with Swiss Re.

K12, the US provider of software for the online education of schoolchildren, has issued a $360m convertible bond, at the end of another busy month for US equity-linked debt issuance.

Chinese smart electric vehicle maker Nio has launched an accelerated follow-on offering, riding on the strong support seen for the US listings of its competitors in the past month.

A bumper order book allowed Mexican bottling company Coca-Cola Femsa to sell a debut green bond inside guidance and inside its own curve this week, as the green aspect of the deal further broadened the audience for a credit that already holds diverse appeal.

The dollar corporate bond market skipped the summer slowdown this year. This week Royalty Pharma issued its first bond as a public company and pushed August's total issuance above $100bn for the first time ever.

Nomura has cut jobs in its investment banking business in Europe over the summer, following losses in leveraged finance, as its new chief executive eyes up other regions for growth, writes David Rothnie.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng raised $1.5bn this week, after increasing the size of its US listing and pricing it above the marketed range.