Governance

  • JP Morgan installs activist defence specialist for EMEA

    JP Morgan installs activist defence specialist for EMEA

    JP Morgan has topped up its expertise in shareholder activism in EMEA with the appointment of Darren Novak, a veteran of the discipline who previously worked at UBS, as head of shareholder engagement and M&A capital markets (SEAMAC) for the region.

    27 Jul 2021
  • Tunisia bonds fall as ‘coup’ sends shockwaves

    Tunisia bonds fall as ‘coup’ sends shockwaves

    A decade after the Arab Spring erupted in Tunisia, the country has found itself once again in the throes of a political crisis, sending shockwaves through investors. The president’s abrupt seizing of executive power — which some have labelled a coup — poses yet another challenge for the country, though some said there may be buying opportunities on the horizon.

    26 Jul 2021
  • Monte bonds soar after legal settlement

    Monte bonds soar after legal settlement

    Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has settled a legal dispute with its former controlling shareholder, clearing a major source of uncertainty that had been dragging on its efforts to find a buyer.

    22 Jul 2021
  • Robinhood’s appeal to retail does not level the playing field

    Robinhood’s appeal to retail does not level the playing field

    Robinhood’s mission to democratise stock markets is taking its inevitable next step with its own initial public offering, of which it says it will sell between 20% to 35% to retail investors. But while opening up the IPO investor base beyond the institutional investor clique sounds good in theory, such transactions remain extremely risky for retail investors.

    20 Jul 2021
  • The week in review: PBoC publishes digital renminbi white paper, seven regulators visit Didi for cybersecurity review, Beijing extends Tomorrow group units takeover timeline

    The week in review: PBoC publishes digital renminbi white paper, seven regulators visit Didi for cybersecurity review, Beijing extends Tomorrow group units takeover timeline

    In this round-up, the Chinese central bank releases the first white paper for its digital currency, regulators led by the Cyberspace Administration of China conduct an on-site inspection at Didi Chuxing Technology, and the takeover period of nine financial firms linked to beleaguered conglomerate Tomorrow Holding has been extended.

    19 Jul 2021
  • Biden’s Hong Kong stance adds to HSBC’s ‘unique conundrum’

    Biden’s Hong Kong stance adds to HSBC’s ‘unique conundrum’

    As Western companies operating in Hong Kong await the details of a warning from the US State Department about the risks of doing business in the special administrative region, analysts say the growing rift between China and the US is putting HSBC in an especially uncomfortable position.

    16 Jul 2021
  • Novo lands senior debut despite controversial past

    Novo lands senior debut despite controversial past

    Novo Banco found just enough demand to print its first preferred senior bond this week, setting the issuer off on a journey towards its minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) targets. Market participants drew attention to the Portuguese bank’s controversial past, including imposing unexpected losses on a group of senior bondholders.

    15 Jul 2021
  • CFPB to 'reshape markets' as it tightens grip on consumer lenders

    CFPB to 'reshape markets' as it tightens grip on consumer lenders

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is casting a wider net in terms of what it considers consumer fraud to keep in line with US president Joe Biden's pro-consumer agenda. Such aggressive consumer protection measures, if they were to increase in magnitude, might create unpredictability for secondary markets and investors, sources said.

    15 Jul 2021
  • Direct listings offer IPO alternative following Wise success

    Direct listings offer IPO alternative following Wise success

    Shares in Wise, the UK fintech group, had traded up more than 22% by Friday afternoon compared to the price at which it completed the first ever direct listing by a technology unicorn on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Equity bankers hailed the transaction as an alternative route to going public when the IPO market is difficult but the list of companies that could do such a deal is short, writes Aidan Gregory.

    09 Jul 2021
  • A stablecoin threatens stability

    A stablecoin threatens stability

    For those in the world of grown-up finance, the cryptocurrency world has often been the subject of amused scorn or mild envy. It is very much its own game, and it scarcely seems to inhabit the same world as staid, professional markets like that for commercial paper. But all that is changing and regulators must pay attention.

    08 Jul 2021
  • China-to-US IPOs: more pain coming

    China-to-US IPOs: more pain coming

    China's latest crackdown of three of its technology companies has a clear message for firms looking to list in the US — and investors wanting to buy their shares.

    07 Jul 2021
  • China internet regulator targets Didi, FTA, Kanzhun

    China internet regulator targets Didi, FTA, Kanzhun

    China’s cybersecurity task force has ordered online platforms Full Truck Alliance (FTA) and Kanzhun, both recently listed in New York, to stop signing up new users. The move came immediately after the regulator ordered ride-hailing service Didi to be removed from mobile app stores.

    05 Jul 2021
  • Easing tensions lift Russian IPO hopes but tough market ahead

    Easing tensions lift Russian IPO hopes but tough market ahead

    Equity capital markets are bracing for an influx of Russian IPOs in the autumn, following a slight easing of tensions between the US and Russia. However, not only is the threat of further sanctions still present, but Russian IPO candidates will also be heading into an increasingly crowded and difficult market, writes Aidan Gregory.

    01 Jul 2021
  • Russian ECM hopes could be another false dawn

    Russian ECM hopes could be another false dawn

    The possible flotation of a Russian hospitals group is being billed as a revival of the country’s IPO market, with more deals to follow. Bankers pointed to the recent US-Russian summit in Switzerland as cause for optimism but investors should remain as sceptical as they appear to be about the rest of the IPO market.

    01 Jul 2021
  • Hussain returns with attack on Bluestone deal

    Hussain returns with attack on Bluestone deal

    Following release after his imprisonment for contempt of court, Rizwan Hussain has launched a new attack on legacy RMBS transactions managed by Bluestone Mortgages, purporting to have taken over as a director of the SPV and attempting to replace crucial transaction parties with his own entities. Whether he has authority to do so is not yet clear.

    30 Jun 2021
  • EU syndication ban on banks ‘unfair’ and ‘arbitrary’

    EU syndication ban on banks ‘unfair’ and ‘arbitrary’

    Senior SSA bond market participants have condemned the European Commission’s decision to temporarily exclude 10 of its primary dealers from the Next Generation EU syndication programme due to breaches of European antitrust rules. The Commission’s actions have also raised fears that other European borrowers could follow suit.

    17 Jun 2021
  • UK consults on national security veto for listings

    UK consults on national security veto for listings

    The UK government is consulting with market participants about new powers enabling it to block companies from listing their shares in the country on national security grounds. The move comes after concerns were raised about the 2017 listing of energy and metals company EN+.

    15 Jun 2021
  • Evergrande bonds slide further

    Evergrande bonds slide further

    Evergrande Group's dollar bonds have continued their downward spiral to becoming the worst performing high yield notes last week, as the Chinese real estate company feels the impact over its links with Shenjiang Bank, which has come under fire by regulators.

    07 Jun 2021
  • China policy and markets round-up: Biden bans investment in more Chinese firms, central bank hikes FX reserve requirement, CSRC publishes whitelist for securities companies

    China policy and markets round-up: Biden bans investment in more Chinese firms, central bank hikes FX reserve requirement, CSRC publishes whitelist for securities companies

    In this round-up, US president Joe Biden signs an executive order that bans Americans from investing in Chinese companies allegedly operating in the defence or surveillance sectors, the People's Bank of China raises banks’ foreign exchange reserve requirement, and Beijing gives greater flexibility to securities companies on a ‘whitelist’.

    04 Jun 2021
  • Marketplace lenders prepare for ‘true lender’ repeal

    Marketplace lenders prepare for ‘true lender’ repeal

    A likely repeal of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency's 'true lender' rule reopens the gates of regulatory uncertainty for marketplace lenders. However, the industry is still confident lenders will be able to manage the risks of states challenging their bank origination model, considering the short period in which the rule has been in place.

    03 Jun 2021
  • Shanghai bourse pulls plug on record onshore ABS deals

    Shanghai bourse pulls plug on record onshore ABS deals

    The Shanghai Stock Exchange scrapped a record 26 corporate ABS deal applications this week. They included Rmb18bn ($2.82bn) of deals from Ant Group’s two consumer lending units — seven months after the company’s landmark IPO was suspended. Addison Gong reports.

    27 May 2021
  • Fundraising prudence stands Andean sovereigns in good stead

    Fundraising prudence stands Andean sovereigns in good stead

    Chile, Peru and Colombia — previously hailed by EM investors for orthodox economic policymaking — are under pressure amid social unrest and political polarisation. But as the upheaval whirls around them, their credit in the bank with bondholders, after years of impressive debt management, is a major asset.

    25 May 2021
  • International regulators seek info on levloan and CLO conflicts

    International regulators seek info on levloan and CLO conflicts

    The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has launched a series of surveys ‘to understand the potential conflicts of interest and misaligned incentives among participants in the leveraged loan and CLO markets’, inviting bank lenders, CLO investors, loan sponsors, and CLO managers to give them feedback.

    25 May 2021
  • Market split over Belarus access as sanctions hit

    Market split over Belarus access as sanctions hit

    The EU has agreed to hit Belarus with sanctions and restrictions in the aftermath of the grounding of a Ryanair flight and the arrest of one of its passengers, journalist and activist Roman Protasevich. Market participants say that market access for the sovereign is in doubt.

    25 May 2021
  • Moody’s turns negative on Peru’s sole A rating

    Moody’s turns negative on Peru’s sole A rating

    Political volatility continues to take its toll on the credit ratings of Latin America’s strongest sovereigns, with Peru the latest to suffer a negative outlook as Moody’s predicted the next government will likely face a continuation of the political gridlock that has hampered economic activity over the last four years.

    24 May 2021
  • EC fines Nomura, UBS and UniCredit over govvie cartel

    EC fines Nomura, UBS and UniCredit over govvie cartel

    The European Commission on Thursday fined Nomura, UBS and UniCredit for their traders' participation in a cartel in the primary and secondary European government bond markets during the financial crisis.

    20 May 2021
  • Coinbase: keep it crypto

    Coinbase: keep it crypto

    Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s $1.25bn foray into the convertible bond market this week may be a sign of cryptos going mainstream. But the sight of such a borrower raising vanilla equity capital was not necessarily something to cheer about.

    20 May 2021
  • Crypto exchange Coinbase raises $1.25bn

    Crypto exchange Coinbase raises $1.25bn

    Shares in Coinbase plunged more than 10% at the open on Wednesday after the US cryptocurrency exchange operator sold $1.25bn of convertible bonds and suffered a serious outage of its platform that stopped many users from trading.

    19 May 2021
  • Russia mandates for euros in market-appeasing trade

    Russia mandates for euros in market-appeasing trade

    Russia has mandated an exclusively Russian consortium of banks to arrange a euro bond issue. Market participants say the extra cash is not necessary but is Russia’s way of demonstrating its access to markets a month after its sovereign debt was slapped with further US sanctions.

    18 May 2021
  • Cameron had a point: SCF would have been a good rescue tool

    Cameron had a point: SCF would have been a good rescue tool

    David Cameron’s involvement with Greensill Capital blew a financial scandal into a political crisis, as details emerged of the close contacts between the company, civil servants, ministers and the British establishment. Last week, UK lawmakers had their chance to grill Cameron directly, in a session which can’t have been too comfortable. But amid the self-exculpation, the ex-Prime Minister had a couple of good points.

    18 May 2021
  • Chile dollar bonds slide as local yields spike after election shock

    Chile dollar bonds slide as local yields spike after election shock

    After Chileans chose the delegates who will draft a new constitution, bond market participants appeared to be taken aback by the centre-right government’s poor performance. Chilean assets across the board slumped, with local rates hit harder than hard currency bonds.

    18 May 2021