Country Garden: follow the lack of money

The aftershocks of Chinese property development whopper Country Garden's revelation that it would miss bond coupon payments rippled across the world's capital markets this week. We follow the trail from the beleaguered builder throughout the capital markets to see how it could hit the European corporate bond market and how it has already impacted upon demand for emerging market bonds.

As the German dramatist Gotthold Lessing wrote, "...everything is connected, everything is interwoven, everything changes with everything, everything merges from one into another." This is one of those fascinating threads in global finance that demonstrates the interconnectedness of the world's economy and markets.

The picture was rosier in the UK, however (and how often has anyone been able to say that the last couple of years?), where the sterling bond market is in fine form. We highlight new bonds from a couple of UK FIG borrowers and examine why the market is so busy when others appear to be on a summer holiday. Who says the UK has a problem with productivity?