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UK lenders used the second quarter of 2020 to ramp up their provisions against loan losses, greatly exceeding the market’s already high expectations for new reserves

The US Department of Labour is nearing the end of a comment period for a proposed rule that would hinder some investors’ ability to allocate money to environmental, social and governance (ESG) assets. Investors and advocacy groups have shown their alarm by pouring in requests for an extension to Thursday's deadline, writes Max Adams.

The Single Supervisory Mechanism has been making all the right moves during the coronavirus crisis.

James Palmer has been named interim head of equity capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Bank of America. He replaces Sam Losada, who is leaving the bank to join Morgan Stanley.

Credit Suisse is bringing its disparate markets and investment banking operations into one division, it announced on Thursday, as new chief executive Thomas Gottstein draws out a fresh structure for the bank. The bank is aiming to create savings to be invested elsewhere, but did not give much detail about where cuts would be made.

Independent firms were the big winners of the 2008 financial meltdown. But they will find the Covid-19 crisis tougher to navigate, as they grapple with a unique set of challenges, writes David Rothnie.

Deutsche Bank on Wednesday released a stellar set of results for origination for the second quarter, compared with consensus estimates, its previous results and to a lesser extent competitors. Henrik Johnsson, co-head of European banking and capital markets, said that the bank’s strengths became more valuable during the coronavirus crisis.

When the European Central Bank (ECB) is suggesting the additional tier-one market could cost the euro area up to 0.25% of GDP growth in the next year and a half, it is probably time to start thinking about reforming the asset class.

The European Stability Mechanism stands ready to lend eurozone countries up to 2% of their GDP at negative rates — but in spite of the clear cost savings compared to market funding, countries have yet to take up the offer. It is time to rid ESM lending of its stigma.

The UK government looks ever more likely to create a new public sector bank focused on green infrastructure. Policy experts welcome the prospect, but there would be many choices to make over the structure and financing of the organisation.

The European Central Bank said on Tuesday that it would not be pushing banks to meet their Pillar 2 guidance or their combined buffer requirements until at least the end of 2022, as part of its efforts to encourage more lending to the real economy.

HSBC has become the latest bank to create a dedicated team for sustainable finance amid the coronavirus crisis. This is part of a new strategic solutions group, which will also house two other solutions units: one for corporate finance, and one for financial institutions and capital.