Nat Rothschild, the UK financier who is part of the Rothschild banking family, dubbed Lazard, his family’s longstanding investment banking rival, a “bucket shop” in an effort to dissuade Peter Mandelson from joining that firm in early 2011 after he left the UK government the previous year.
In early January Alex McWhorter had an almost impossible annual assignment for a country chief of a major bank: he had to decide which 50% of his male staff he could protect from being called up for military service, and which he would have to make available to potentially go off to fight in a war.
Nykredit Realkredit broke a longstanding record for the tightest reset spread in the euro Additional Tier 1 market with a €500m perpetual non-call 5.5-year bond on Tuesday, a deal that revealed a range of views on the valuations of European banks' riskiest debt instrument.
This year’s sharp rotation in global stock markets is encouraging more investors to pile into dispersion trades, a complex breed of derivatives that profit from share prices heading in different directions.
Ivory Coast and Kenya took advantage of demand for higher-yielding credit last week as the pace of public issuance from African sovereigns begins to pick up after a relatively slow start to the year.
EMEA corporate acquisition financing is on the rebound after an underwhelming 2025 as corporate strategic consolidation continues across sectors despite ongoing challenges from tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory complexity and valuation gaps.
The latest round of tariff rhetoric and manoeuvring from the Trump administration has failed to unnerve a European leveraged loan market that has become somewhat numb to the noise.
Lloyds RMBS highlights strong demand for Dutch collateral
The reception of Lloyds Bank’s latest Dutch RBMS underscored that there is sustained investor appetite for Dutch collateral and the broader positive tone surrounding European securitisations.
Full-year earnings from European banks – Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and UBS – showed them broadly holding market share in the markets’ business, but struggling to capitalise on the upswing in investment banking.
FCA's plan to soften securitisation rules set to boost UK industry
The Financial Conduct Authority’s plan to ease red tape and simplify the UK securitisation regime has been welcomed by market participants, who see the regulator's moves as helping kickstart a revival in an industry that has yet to return to pre-financial crisis highs.
Moves – Citi sets up AI unit for mega financing push
Citigroup has set up a unit dedicated to AI infrastructure banking within its investment bank to meet the estimated US$3trn of financing required by such capital-intensive computing over the next five years.
Moves - Star inflation trader Cypel leaving Citigroup
Star inflation trader Douglas Cypel is leaving Citigroup, according to sources familiar with the matter, in the latest sign of the strong demand for trading talent in these niche markets.
HSBC Holdings on Wednesday reported a drop in full-year profit as dilution of its stake in Bank of Communications, restructuring costs and other one-off costs weighed.
France-headquartered fixed income technology provider Onbrane has announced a strategic partnership with agora Digital Capital Markets, which says it will extend its issuance capabilities from the short end to the medium and long-term debt market.
The Republic of Indonesia continued its borrowing spree for the year with a Rmb9.25bn (US$1.3bn) triple-tranche Dim Sum deal and a €2.7bn (US$3.2bn) triple-tranche portion printed on Wednesday.
Competition for newly issued bonds hits recent highs: Barclays
New issues in the US primary credits market are increasingly popular as competition intensifies among a wider and more diverse group of investors looking to buy bonds sold by high-grade and junk-rated borrowers, according to a Barclays report released on Wednesday.
Lloyds RMBS highlights strong demand for Dutch collateral
The reception of Lloyds Bank’s latest Dutch RBMS underscored that there is sustained investor appetite for Dutch collateral and the broader positive tone surrounding European securitisations.
European new issue CLOs return with new players in the fray
Refinancings and resets that dominated the European CLO primary market at the start of the year are finally giving way to new issue CLOs. The dynamic has flipped, as CLO spreads push wider in the face of AI-fuelled jitters in the software industry, making resets and refis less economically appealing for managers.
Columbus Capital was the only RMBS issuer in town as it raised a record-busting A$2.7bn (US$1.91bn) from the prime Columbus Capital Triton Bond Trust 2026-1 on February 20.
The US structured finance market welcomed a flurry of ABS deals during this past holiday-shortened week, including securitisations of leases and loans backed by auto, equipment, data centre and crypto assets priced.
Lloyds Bank began marketing Candide Financing 2026-1 on Friday morning, the second Dutch prime RMBS this year, in the wake of strong demand for ING’s deal earlier this month.
Debt-for-development heavyweights in US$1bn tie-up
The largest investor in sovereign debt-for-development swaps, Legal & General , is committing US$1bn to a new partnership with the instrument’s pioneering banker, Ramzi Issa , and sees “a healthy pipeline across innovative [emerging markets] debt financing”.
Bank of the Philippine Islands is committed to expanding its labelled ESG bond issuance in the local market, while considering a public US dollar bond later in the year to address upcoming maturities, executives said in an interview.
Ecuador's housing finance framework breaks new ground
Weeks after its highly successful return to conventional bond markets , Ecuador has inaugurated a groundbreaking new sovereign housing finance framework with a US$500m loan.
NextEra stuns with decision to market US$2bn mandatory
NextEra Energy, a regulated utility known for its aggressive use of capital markets, is taking one day to market a US$2bn three-year mandatory convertible security.
Swiss Prime Site continued European equity-linked issuance on Thursday, although the market will remain around the same size as the SFr350m (US$452m) six-year convertible bonds will fund the repurchase of the real estate firm’s outstanding paper.
Jost Werke raises €92.5m in first capital increase
German vehicle components maker Jost Werke completed its first capital raise since its IPO with a €92.5m accelerated bookbuild on Tuesday to raise funds for acquisitions.
The latest round of tariff rhetoric and manoeuvring from the Trump administration has failed to unnerve a European leveraged loan market that has become somewhat numb to the noise.
ELFA issues best practice guidelines for syndication
The European Leveraged Finance Association has released revised guidance aimed at addressing best practice on bank-led syndication processes from the perspective of borrowers.
European private credit managers at DealCatalyst’s European Private Credit Conference on Direct Lending 2026 in London on Monday hit back at what they perceive are inflated concerns about the threat of AI, seeing the technology as posing little immediate threat to European private credit, and that any tangible impact is still years away.
Lenders to Accell who double as the new owners of the Dutch bike manufacturer are discussing a potential sale of the company and are testing potential interest from competitors to buy the firm.
Lawyers and bankers have placed French IT services company Inetum on their restructuring watchlists as the company looks to avoid redeeming its €213m vendor financing from sponsor Bain Capital this year, and concerns mount over the firm’s looming €1.98bn debt pile, sources said.
European banks: holding on in trading and financing but lagging in dealmaking
Full-year earnings from European banks – Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and UBS – showed them broadly holding market share in the markets’ business, but struggling to capitalise on the upswing in investment banking.
Skipping a beat: FSB points to hidden fragilities in repo market
The repo market is the heartbeat of bond markets. Like a real heartbeat, when all is well, there is nothing more boring. But when things go wrong … watch out.
‘Software-mageddon’ underlines the K-shaped environment for tech bankers
The AI boom has been backed by investor enthusiasm – and their money – on an unprecedented scale. Investment bankers have high hopes of a huge year for deals. But just like the broader economy, will this be a K-shaped market for tech deals?
Stablecoins: meet the new boss, same as the old boss
How stable is a stablecoin? That is a question that S&P attempts to answer via its Global Ratings’ Stablecoin Stability Assessment, a product designed to quantify a stablecoin’s ability to maintain its peg to a fiat currency. It produces a score from 1, very strong, to 5, weak.
A quick glance at investment bank share prices over the past year tells a story: business is booming and the outlook is rosy. The question now, in the middle of reporting and bonus season, is how much of the profits will bank bosses have to give away to their staff.
IFR hosts a comprehensive programme of conferences, seminars and roundtables throughout the year, providing authoritative insight into the trends and outlooks for specific regions and asset classes.
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