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GC Asia
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Yandex sells Russian tech exposure with $1.25bn CB
Yandex, the Russian internet company, has reopened the equity-linked bond primary market in EMEA after more than a month without any new issues, by issuing a huge $1.25bn five year convertible bond. The books are covered at the midpoint of the terms, a source close to the transaction said. It will be priced at that level.
25 Feb 2020 -
Ferber lashes out at ESMA for Ophèle appointment
MEP Markus Ferber has come out swinging at the European Securities and Markets Authority for appointing chief French regulator Robert Ophèle to temporarily chair its central counterparty (CCP) supervisory committee.
24 Feb 2020 -
More Venezuela sanctions expected after Rosneft ban
The US Treasury slapped sanctions on a Rosneft subsidiary on Tuesday for brokering sales of Venezuelan crude oil that supported president Nicolás Maduro’s government. Some expect this to be the first of similar actions, in the run up to the US presidential election.
19 Feb 2020 -
Rosneft woes no block for $2bn Gazprom
Gazprom returned to the Eurobond market for the first time in a year on Tuesday, pulling in $4bn of orders at one stage in the pricing process, despite the US sanctioning a Rosneft subsidiary.
19 Feb 2020 -
Staley’s Epstein links mar Barclays’ solid CIB results
Barclays posted another strong set of returns from the corporate and investment bank (CIB) on Thursday, but the disclosure that UK regulators are investigating chief executive Jes Staley’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was described as a “red flag”.
13 Feb 2020 -
KKR says no to NMC Health takeover bid
US buyout group KKR has said it will not make a bid for the beleaguered UAE healthcare company NMC Health, dampening investor hopes of a rescue buyout and sending its shares and convertible bonds lower.
11 Feb 2020 -
NMC Health shares and CBs rally on takeover interest
Shares in NMC Health, the beleaguered UAE healthcare company, surged as much as 18% on Monday morning after it said it had received takeover approaches from buyout firms KKR and GK Investment.
10 Feb 2020 -
Gottstein may play better with Credit Suisse’s investment bankers
Credit Suisse’s outgoing chief executive Tidjane Thiam thought he could win the power struggle against chairman Urs Rohner but he overlooked the real power broker — Severin Schwan.
10 Feb 2020 -
CS shares drop but analysts sanguine after Thiam exit
The departure of Tidjane Thiam as chief executive of Credit Suisse on Friday caused the bank’s share price to fall, but analysts believe the firm’s strategy is likely to remain largely unchanged.
07 Feb 2020 -
Robo-brokers in the pipeline as AiX moves to upend IDBs with AI
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.
06 Feb 2020 -
AI firm makes push into OTC interdealer markets
Robots are going up against humans in the OTC broking markets as AiX announced the launch of its natural language artificial intelligence broker platform this week.
05 Feb 2020 -
HKEX explores AI for disclosure reviews
Hong Kong’s stock exchange is looking to put artificial intelligence technology to use for reviewing disclosures by listed companies.
04 Feb 2020 -
China’s Kangmei becomes first 2020 new defaulter
Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co, which committed a high-profile fraud last year, has become the first company to default onshore after Chinese New Year, having failed to repay a Rmb2.4bn ($342m) bond that was put back by its holders.
04 Feb 2020 -
European Parliament rejects proposed banking regulator
Members of the European Parliament voted against the European Banking Authority’s proposed executive director on Thursday, following fears about a revolving door between the regulator and lobbyists.
31 Jan 2020 -
Trade bodies call for seven hour trading day in European equities
The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (Afme) and the Investment Association (IA) have proposed a one and a half hour reduction to the European equity market trading day, in response to a consultation launched by the London Stock Exchange in December.
30 Jan 2020 -
Weaker governance is 'greatest concern' for banking sector, warns ECB
More than three quarters of European banks have poor standards of internal governance, according to the European Central Bank, which warned on Tuesday that management bodies were simply 'not effective'.
28 Jan 2020 -
Cross nomination as banking regulator makes MEPs cross
The European Banking Authority’s proposed next executive director, Gerry Cross, was rejected by a committee of EU politicians on Thursday amid discontent over a perceived revolving door between the regulator and lobbyists.
24 Jan 2020 -
MEPs rebuke banking regulator for revolving door
Members of the European Parliament have hit out at the appointment of a top banking regulator as chief executive of the lobbyist group the Association for Financial Markets in Europe. Meanwhile, the regulator has nominated a former Afme lobbyist as his successor.
17 Jan 2020 -
CFTC fines Mirae Asset Daewoo for spoofing
South Korea’s Mirae Asset Daewoo has been ordered to pay $700,000 after a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation found one of its traders had engaged in spoofing.
14 Jan 2020 -
NMC Health insiders sell £375m of stock
Two major insiders offloaded £375m of stock in NMC Health, the troubled UAE-based private healthcare company to cover debts on Tuesday. The share sale, which was priced at a 19.7% discount to close, came weeks after a short selling attack on NMC Health by US activist hedge fund Muddy Waters, which caused the company to lose more than half of its market value.
08 Jan 2020 -
Short selling can promote greater corporate responsibility
Short sellers' detractors say they are detrimental to the responsible stewardship of companies. This is unfair; they can play a useful role in highlighting deceptive practices in a world of greenwashing.
07 Jan 2020 -
Ukraine’s moment of truth on hold as court postpones Privatbank hearing
Investors eyeing Ukraine will have to wait until next year for a clearer view on how friendly the country is to foreign capital, after a court delayed a decision on the fight over Privatbank, the scandal dominating the country's financial affairs.
20 Dec 2019 -
Southpaw’s alternative awards of 2019
Southpaw takes a sideways look at some of the big events that defined investment banking in 2019.
18 Dec 2019 -
NMC saga injects more fraud fear into equity-linked market
Equity-linked bond investors were left hurting again this week after bonds and shares in NMC Healthcare, the London-listed Emirati private healthcare business, were hit by accusations of fraud by short seller Muddy Waters. This is another painful episode for the convertible bond market after its troubles with Wirecard earlier in 2019, and an earlier scandal at Steinhoff International.
18 Dec 2019 -
If retail investors can buy burrito notes, why not proper bonds?
Retail investors who bought two minibond issues from Chilango, a London-based Mexican food chain, are set to lose their money, with either a 90% writedown or debt-for-equity swap heading their way. This was grimly predictable, based on a cursory glance at the deal documents, but the issue shows how messed up our investor protection rules are.
17 Dec 2019 -
US bars ex-Goldman banker Leissner for 1MDB scandal
The US financial regulator has permanently barred former Goldman Sachs executive Tim Leissner from the securities industry, for his role in the 1MDB scandal.
17 Dec 2019 -
Nuclear and governance to be pressure points in Taxonomy trilogue
National governments of the European Union have reached agreement on the law that will implement the Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities, even though Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and Greece are unhappy that nuclear power has not been specifically excluded. There could be fights over that issue when the Parliament and Commission negotiate with the Council in a 'trilogue'.
25 Sep 2019
