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Bertrand de Mazières is one of the best known and most respected figures in European debt capital markets. As director general of finance at the European Investment Bank (EIB), he oversees one of Europe’s most important bond issuers, a status not only due to the amount it issues each year, but also its role as a setter of standards and benchmarks for rest of the market — in good times and bad.

JP Morgan has extended its lead in European investment banking, scotching accusations of a retreat and dashing hopes of a change in the status quo, writes David Rothnie.

Commerzbank’s future strategy is up in the air after it was announced that its chief executive and chairman would be leaving after its “5.0” strategy received a poor welcome.

Deutsche Bank has created a new coverage model for its public sector business, which will be headed up by Panos Stergiou, global head of macro coverage.

The EU’s proposed recovery fund is expected to be presented to the summit of European leaders on July 17-18 with the size unchanged from the proposed €500bn of grants and €250bn of loans, although the EU budget is likely to be slimmed down, according to sources.

The European Central Bank has put the familiar topic of bank consolidation back into the spotlight, after its supervisory arm made clear last week that it did not want to stand in the way of well-designed deals.

After a hectic second quarter, equity capital markets bankers and investor are now hoping for a traditional summer slowdown to allow market participants to take a break.

The biggest reform of UK insolvency law for more than a decade was rushed through Parliament and enacted on June 26, as the coronavirus lockdown is expected to cause a wave of defaults across the economy, reports Jon Hay. The law’s complexity and the haste of its preparation have left restructuring experts chewing over many aspects where they foresee risks of unintended consequences — but also eager to try out some of the law’s new powers.

Société Générale and Natixis may face more questions over their equity derivatives businesses when they release their second-quarter results. The issue is whether their structured products are inherently problematic or simply suffered from freak events.

Bank of America hopes that a new management team built on a culture of intensity will enable it to meet its top three goal in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, writes David Rothnie.

The shock resignation of the governor of Ukraine’s central bank on Wednesday night led the sovereign to pull its much-anticipated Eurobond, which had priced just moments before. As investors grow more unsettled, experts fear for the sovereign’s access to institutional funding and capital markets, writes Mariam Meskin.

Barclays has appointed two new chairs of its leveraged finance and sponsors business, with Chris Turner relocating to New York to become chairman of global leveraged finance.