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.
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.
Japanese telecoms company NTT was in the euro, sterling and US dollar Formosa markets on Wednesday as part of its efforts to diversify its funding sources at attractive pricing levels.
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.
Telereal Securitisation got well over £1bn of orders for a dual-tranche deal on Wednesday. The structure is in line with the company's strategy to limit the amount of outstanding bonds due after 2031.
National Australia Bank returned to the euro covered bond market after a year's absence on Wednesday, executing a €1bn March 2033 transaction that came at the tightest spread seen on a seven-year euro covered print out of Australia in over three years.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Japanese telecoms company NTT was in the euro, sterling and US dollar Formosa markets on Wednesday as part of its efforts to diversify its funding sources at attractive pricing levels.
Telereal Securitisation got well over £1bn of orders for a dual-tranche deal on Wednesday. The structure is in line with the company's strategy to limit the amount of outstanding bonds due after 2031.
National Australia Bank returned to the euro covered bond market after a year's absence on Wednesday, executing a €1bn March 2033 transaction that came at the tightest spread seen on a seven-year euro covered print out of Australia in over three years.
Keepmoat returns as UK housing sector looks to recovery
UK housebuilder Keepmoat returned to the high-yield market after a four-year absence, launching new senior secured notes as the outlook for the industry looks as if it might have begun to improve.
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.
Hyundai’s fourth German auto ABS achieved good support which reinforced positive momentum in the primary market and set a constructive tone for further European auto-backed issuance expected over the coming weeks.
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.
Medtronic’s MiniMed targets US$784m from Nasdaq IPO
Medtronic moved ahead with plans to carve out its MiniMed Group diabetes unit by launching a Nasdaq IPO early Tuesday that would value the fast-growing subsidiary at up to US$7.86bn.
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.
ConEd taps market for US$775m to power US$38bn capex plan
Consolidated Edison locked in roughly US$775m of equity funding late Monday from a forward sale of stock, prefunding part of the US$38bn it plans to spend on capex over the next five years.
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.
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.
A JP Morgan-led bank group has begun premarketing to investors more than US$5bn of debt to back software provider Qualtrics’ acquisition of healthcare analytics company Press Ganey Forsta, testing appetite for technology risk at a moment when confidence in the sector is under pressure, according to a source with knowledge of the transaction.
Elevator and escalator service provider TK Elevator is seeking a €1.5bn-equivalent (US$1.77bn) dollar and euro term loan B to partially refinance its existing dollar and euro notes due in 2027.
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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