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The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, has closed a $10bn bridge loan, with tighter margins than its debut entry into the loan market in September 2018. The deal is one of this year's highlights from the region, where syndicated loan volumes have declined from last year.

Tradeweb, the US-listed electronic financial marketplace operator, has expanded its ability to trade corporate bond portfolios, hoping to improve access to liquidity for clients.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has made an unsolicited £32bn bid for the London Stock Exchange Group, a move that could torpedo the LSE’s acquisition of Refinitiv.

Ready and willing equity investors are facing another year of frustration in Russia, with the country's IPO activity set to underwhelm until 2020.

State-owned Argentine oil and gas company YPF became the first borrower from the country to tap international bond markets in 14 months on Monday. Yet despite a healthy reception from investors, bankers do not expect copycat trades from other Argentine issuers.

Just two weeks after the IMF said it had reached a staff level agreement on the first review of Ecuador’s economic programme, the South American sovereign pounced on a positive start to the week in markets to issue $1.125bn of bonds that will be used to refinance debt due next year.

Bank capital deals were firmly off the agenda this week as the FIG bond market followed equities into risk-off mode. Auto financing firm LeasePlan did find demand for an additional tier one deal and Credit Agricole printed an Australian dollar tier two, but otherwise a tense macro backdrop led issuers to stick to senior debt.

The Dutch State Treasury Agency (DSTA) has released initial spread guidance for its inaugural green bond, which will be launched via Dutch Direct Auction (DDA) on Tuesday.

Large asset managers have urged the UK to start issuing green Gilts to support the country’s environmental initiatives and broaden the range of assets they can buy. Although the government's Green Task Force recommended the idea last year, there has been little progress since and the country’s Debt Management Office has shown little enthusiasm for the product, writes Burhan Khadbai.

Europe's equity capital markets are heading for a crunch. Companies are set to launch a batch of IPOs so they price before investors disappear for the summer. But escalating trade tensions between China and the US threaten to rob them of their chance, writes Sam Kerr.

Complaining about MiFID is par for the course at industry gatherings. But Henrik Normann, president and CEO of the Nordic Investment Bank, told attendees at the 2019 conference of the International Capital Markets Association that the regulatory regime was only there “because the industry has failed”.

A consortium led by EQT Partners has won the auction of Nestlé Skin Health for Sfr10.2bn ($10.1bn), paving the way for what is likely to be the year’s largest leveraged buyout in Europe, and the third largest since the financial crisis, after AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals and Refinitiv last year.