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The coronavirus pandemic, in terms of the financial markets has had its winners as well as its losers. The loan market, after years of decline as borrowers sought better terms in bond markets, has shown its worth in times of trouble by being able to offer liquidity lifelines to companies left in dire need of the stuff when other markets could not provide it.

Japanese issuers are among the best-regarded in the world, offering global investors a safe haven at times of heightened volatility. That is now more important than ever. Their last financial year started amid widespread trade disputes between China and the US. It ended with the global spread of Covid-19, a pandemic that threatens to fundamentally alter the capital markets. GlobalCapital talked to a group of Japan’s top issuers to find out how they have navigated the volatility — and what they’re planning next.

Barclays is leading the race to reopen the European RMBS market with an €807m Irish deal, Fingal Securities, a piece of the 'Project Porto' portfolio it bought from Bank of Scotland in 2018, with joint leads BNP Paribas and Bank of America joining sole arranger Barclays to help price the deal.

The market for bonds that target environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns previously put the focus on the environmental aspect, leading to a rush of green bond issuance but little attention on social problems. Not anymore. Social bonds have become a much more prominent tool for highly-rated issuers, helping fund solutions to problems ranging from educational shortfalls in developing countries to the spread of Covid-19 around the world. Japanese issuers have been at the forefront, developing a busy domestic market. GlobalCapital talks to a group of prominent issuers about the potential of social bonds.

Japan’s socially responsible investment (SRI) market has blossomed, helping the country to become a leading destination for the sector. Morgan Davis reports.

Japanese companies have reduced their offshore bond issuance over the last few years. But could a push for overseas business bolster supply? Morgan Davis reports.

Santander has hired António Simões from HSBC as its regional head of Europe.

Hertz’s flirtation with bankruptcy has sparked a debate in the asset-backed securities market over the fate of the company’s rental car ABS trusts. But if Hertz succumbs to the economic ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, various safeguards in its ABS documentation should result in minimal damage to bondholders, reiterating a key strength of securitization in times of crisis.

Companies that pay little tax have suffered worse share price declines during the coronavirus pandemic than the market as a whole — a result that suggests investors may at last be taking notice of this long ignored aspect of corporate governance.

GIC, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund, sold 115m shares in medical product and technologies company ConvaTec on Monday night following a huge rally in the stock price.

Europe’s high grade corporate bond market pumped out deals on Tuesday, with some defensive issuers managing to print inside fair value while some of the day’s more esoteric picks had to pay up even for short maturity debt.

The wave of accelerated capital raisings in the UK in response to the Covid-19 crisis has caused consternation in some circles because retail investors cannot access to these deals. While the principle of shareholder equality is without doubt a noble one, in reality larger shareholders have always had more access to equity capital markets deals than retail investors have.