United States

Deutsche Bank’s recently announced policy on returning to the New York office in September fits what many bankers have been expecting for months and heralds a return to normality. But for a small subset of bankers who left offices in London for lockdown in March 2020, the end of restrictions will also mean a change of circumstances — and getting used to living in a new country.

Supply was light in the US corporate bond market this week, partly because the May non-farm payrolls report is due on Friday. Participants are braced for volatility after the US Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday it would start selling its holdings of corporate bonds, purchased as a stimulus measure at the height of the pandemic. It was left to Vodafone of the UK to reopen new issuance after the Memorial Day holiday.

Financial institutions returned to the dollar in their droves after the memorial Day holiday, with 12 borrowers cramming more than $15bn of issuance into three days this week.

After a year-long frenzy, the primary market for US convertible bonds has cooled, following a rotation out of technology stocks and jitters over rising yields on government bonds. An injection of realism is no bad thing, however, and should be welcomed in a market that has almost doubled in size within the space of a year.

Deutsche Bank has told staff in New York that they should prepare to be back in the office by Labor Day (September 6), as the firm works on plans to allow more remote working for some in the future.

Citi has hired Chuck Adams from Goldman Sachs to oversee a newly formed investment banking unit combining the traditional healthcare sector with consumer and retail coverage.

Two senior leveraged finance lawyers have switched firms from White & Case to Allen & Overy in New York, following Jake Mincemoyer, who joined A&O as head of US levfin in February.

China’s Full Truck Alliance (FTA), an Uber-like service for trucks, is planning an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, having filed a prospectus with the US regulator.

AstraZeneca, the UK drug company, showed the eager demand for merger and acquisition financings this week when it achieved ultra-tight pricing on a $7bn bond issue to fund its acquisition of US biotech firm Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

GlobalCapital is delighted to announce the winners of its Americas Derivatives Awards for 2021.

Kanzhun, China’s largest online recruitment platform, is planning a $100m listing of American depository shares on the Nasdaq.

AMTD Digital, the digital unit of Hong Kong-based AMTD Group, has set in motion a $100m IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.