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UniCredit’s chief executive, Jean Pierre Mustier, moved fast this week to sell €1bn of stock in FinecoBank, the Italian bank’s online brokerage, after a decision to deconsolidate the unit. Many in the market see UniCredit's accelerating asset sales as an effort to boost its capital position before exploring M&A opportunities in 2020. Aidan Gregory reports.

The European Investment Bank is preparing to launch a new entity — potentially called the European Bank for Sustainable Development — that will focus on sustainable projects outside the EU, GlobalCapital understands.

France and Germany have proposed to extend France’s model for a financial transactions tax (FTT) to all EU countries willing to participate, allocating the revenues to the EU’s budget, according to a Franco-German document seen by GlobalCapital.

Ireland appointed banks on Tuesday for its second syndicated bond of the year, which will extend its euro benchmark curve to 2050 (31 years).

Equity capital markets bankers are pitching aggressively for any new business they can get, often disregarding issuer region or the size of the deal, to make up for the dearth of supply so far in 2019.

Financial officials of all the EU governments are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss whether to broaden the Taxonomy at the heart of the union’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan (SFAP). Some states, led by France, want it to be not just a label for the “green niche” but a guide to wider efforts towards a healthier economy.

The high costs of bidding for the next generation of mobile technology is pushing telecoms firms, many of which operate with leveraged capital structures, to sharpen their balance sheets through asset sales and paying down debt. Mobile moguls like Patrice Drahi, Xavier Niel and John Malone are all taking steps to optimise their empires. Owen Sanderson reports.

Uzbekistan is now the focus of emerging and frontier markets, as international investors, buoyed by the success of Kazakhstan’s privatisation programme, clamber to be in the first wave of opportunities the country is to offer, writes Sam Kerr.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has mandated banks for its inaugural bond, a five year dollar global benchmark.

UK security and outsourcing company G4S has sold roughly $350m of US private placements with seven and 10 year maturities, as the market shows it still has an appetite for UK support services.

Stephanie Sfakianos, BNPP’s head of sustainable capital markets, is retiring from BNP Paribas after 15 years with the bank.

Sirius Minerals, the London-listed miner, has won investor support in the equity financing leg of its new $2.8bn phase two project financing to fund the development of what is intended to be the largest polyhalite mine in the world in the North York Moors near Whitby.