Alternative definitions of the year's buzzwords
Bond portals
Where Indian retail investors do their online shopping.
Buy now pay later
A new way to lend to people who can’t afford to repay.
Cryptocurrency
A decentralised asset that does away with everything that holds back the conventional financial system, like rules and accountability.
Dim Sum
Survival fare for fee-deprived Hong Kong syndicate banks.
Double label
1 ) Debt transaction encompassing more than one kind of ESG financing;
2) Banker put in charge of ESG financing on top of their main job.
Due diligence
Elon, it’s a bit late to read this now.
Dynamic zero
1 ) What China-focused fund managers delivered in the past two years;
2) Late stage of the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control policy.
Fed put
Replaced in 2022 by the Fed call.
GDR
New way for Chinese companies to reach Chinese investors.
Hamster
The ultimate gauge of Hong Kong’s Covid policies. If it’s moving, that means the special administrative region has loosened restrictions.
Holdco discount
100%, in the case of Chinese property developers’ debt.
Hybrid working
Taking a second job to make ends meet.
Liability management
What banks do when an analyst makes an ill-judged remark at a conference.
Lying flat
Portfolio performance to brag about in 2022.
Mezzanine
Something that’s hard to finance in the loan market and the Chinese property sector.
New economy
The term technology companies now use to distance themselves from other technology companies.
NFT
A way to lose money without actually buying anything.
Opportunistic transaction
Any capital markets deal that managed to price in the second half of 2022.
Overall coordinator
Designated bank to blame if something goes wrong.
PCAOB
US regulatory body that is under the illusion US auditors are any better at spotting frauds than Chinese firms.
Ping (verb)
To send a message, about breaking up for instance (see HSBC).
Pre-paid forward contracts
The Schrödinger’s cat of derivatives, whereby shares are simultaneously sold and not sold.
Private credit
Deals with only a handful of investors. Not to be confused with LGFV bond offerings.
Public Investment Fund
The world’s biggest sporting promoter.
RAT
Rapid Covid tests, or your RSVP to Hong Kong events.
River Valley
Singapore’s haven for bankers fleeing Hong Kong.
RTO
Return to office, or remember: trousers on.
SBLC squared
Structure that arises when a borrower obtains a standby letter of credit from a bank, which obtains another SBLC from another bank. Probably nothing to worry about.
Shanghai Free-Trade Zone
New way for Chinese companies to reach Chinese investors (see GDR).
Sleeper hit
A loan that becomes much more popular when it’s converted to an SLL late in marketing.
SPAC
Seemed Promising Ahead of Crash.
Stabilisation agent
IPO arranger tasked with defying gravity.
Terra
The main emotion cryptocurrency investors felt last year.
Transition
ESG policy built around the realisation that banks will have a lot less business if they exclude carbon-intensive industries.
Truss (verb)
To leave something, like a currency or economy, in a bind.
Z-spread
The amount of extra concession needed for emerging market credits since Russia invaded Ukraine.
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