Falling interest rates, returning inflows and a wave of pandemic-era redemptions mean CEEMEA bond market participants have high expectations for 2026. This optimism comes after a record-breaking year for issuance — and by quite some margin — meaning that 2025 will be a tough act to follow, writes George Collard

A booming 2025 investment grade corporate bond market in Europe set a high bar as investors brace to pay higher premiums and shift to the belly of the curve in 2026. Meanwhile, capex, M&A and Reverse Yankees look set to keep the pipeline full, write Diana Bui and Frank Jackman

The European FIG market rode through 2025 on high demand for credit, providing bank issuers, large and small, with extremely advantageous funding conditions. Although investors have also benefitted from strong secondary market performance, as Atanas Dinov reports, that equilibrium may change in 2026, with anticipation mounting that spreads will widen

The CEEMEA primary bond market in 2025 shattered the record for bond issuance by some distance. Investors flocked to buy ahead of US interest rate cuts, meaning the market was open to just about every issuer. It is hard to find too many deals that were not a success, making this the pick of a very large crop

Investment grade companies demonstrated just how much liquidity was sloshing around in the euro, dollar, sterling and Swiss franc markets with a string of large deals. But these bonds did not just stand out for the amount issued. Rather, they showed that there is not always a trade-off to be made between size and price

With a relentless flow of cash into credit markets this year, almost every borrower could be said to have done well. But some issuers stood out for their ability to establish new footholds in certain markets that have since paved the way for peers

European institutions are at risk of having to bail out countries in the Balkans that take out loans from China that come with strings attached but which often fail to deliver the promised infrastructure projects, experts have warned

After initially falling behind the pace set by the European Investment Bank, the EBRD has this week accelerated its target to align with the Paris Agreement on climate change by the end of next year

The UK government is launching a complete review of its securitization regulations in parallel with the European Union’s ambitions to reform the market. Sustainability, the 'simple, transparent and standardised' label, SME funding and risk retention are all under the microscope.

Frontier currency bonds issued by development finance institutions have outperformed emerging market indices over the past three years, according to a report published by fund manager TCX this week.

The European Commission is on the verge of launching its new sustainable finance strategy — the first major fresh initiative since the Sustainable Finance Action Plan of 2018. GlobalCapital has seen a leaked draft, which reveals that the EU will explore whether to create official labels for transition bonds and sustainability-linked bonds, whether to regulate green mortgages, and how to reinforce investors’ responsibility for the effects of their investments.

Hungary, Poland and Romania are ranked in the top quarter of a new index of financial risk. Nomura says that countries should act now to reduce the risk of a crisis hitting within the next three years.

Debt financing to become more sophisticated as the race to build data centres across Europe heats up

JP Morgan sole bookrunner on first jumbo block in a month

This week Tom Hall and Thomas Hopkins discuss how Enpal's return heated up the ABS market and take the CLO equity market's temperature

Company's relationship banks provided the funding

UK chancellor got the big things right in the Budget but made damaging unforced errors

Emerging markets are particularly vulnerable to protests led by disgruntled youth

Artificial intelligence is everywhere — but what is it doing? Capital market specialists think about it constantly, even if only because they are told to, with feelings ranging from delight to horror. Market participants are exploring myriad ways both to use AI, writes Jon Hay, and neutralise its risks

December is a strange time to be in the capital markets. Embrace it

This week a managing director deals with the awkwardness of their boss finding out they had been in contention for a job at another firm

First deal of its kind more than 1.5 times subscribed

Deal complexity, new issuer premium sees trade start more than 100bp wide of last WBS

Gym franchise wants to refinance paper issued in 2022