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GSO Capital Partners, the credit unit of private equity firm Blackstone, has raised roughly $4.5bn for its second European direct lending fund, according to an SEC filing. But as the coronavirus pandemic wrecks corporate balance sheets, several sources are concerned with how European companies will fare.

Extraordinary support measures from central banks across the world include an element of corporate lending, but all the schemes announced so far target SMEs, and companies rated BBB- and above. That leaves a gaping hole in the rescue net, which the authorities must fill.

The UK government’s offer on Friday to pay 80% of the wages of furloughed workers came in the nick of time to save thousands of jobs in manufacturing and services. But few of those affected realised they were benefiting from a German idea. The move highlights how the coronavirus crisis is causing a rapid dissemination of techniques around the world.

The US Federal Reserve has made it easier for the country's banks to eat into their total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) buffers without facing restrictions on equity and debt distributions.

Three UK companies have already flagged their interest in the Bank of England’s emergency commercial paper funding scheme for large businesses, announced on March 20. The big three rating agencies will help fast-track unrated investment grade issuers into the scheme, but the strict eligibility limits leave leveraged and smaller companies out in the cold.

A rush to dollars in recent days has caused dysfunctions in various corners of the financial markets. The US Federal Reserve has rushed to put out the flames, including with new measures on Monday.

Could EU member states finally come together to issue a common debt instrument? In this article, GlobalCapital takes a look at the key issues.

The Bank of England said on Friday morning that UK banks should not treat coronavirus-impacted exposures as impaired assets under IFRS 9 accounting standards, as it unveiled new guidance around the impact of the pandemic.

Central banks attacked the coronavirus threat this week, promising swathes of new money on an unprecedented scale to help fund governments’ colossal new fiscal commitments. Bond markets reacted with relief to the swathe of multi-billion programmes aimed at fending off global financial meltdown.

Wild swings in the euro/dollar basis swap, and an unreliable interest rate swap complicated bond execution in the SSA market this week. While some liquidity has returned in rates, cross currency swaps are still behaving very strangely.

International banks are at risk of depleting their capital reserves as they try to keep credit flowing to companies through the coronavirus crisis. Governments and regulators have already responded, but the sector is screaming out for more work to be done to ease the burden of complying with stringent accounting and supervisory rules, reports Tyler Davies.

The biggest investment banks are enjoying strong trading revenues from the market moves related to the coronavirus pandemic, alleviating a freeze in M&A and underwriting activity. The banks appear well-placed to deal with corporate drawdowns, although there is some debate around wider liquidity profiles.