Comment EM and The Cover

Banks are seeing light at the end of the tunnel as they emerge from major cost cutting exercises at the same time as economies around the world begin to emerge, erratically, from pandemic restrictions. Now the question is whether there will be enough capital markets business to go around.

Central banks’ control was once limited to financial matters — they squatted in the corner, largely unseen. Now, they are stars in the drama — active, talkative stewards of the economy. Society looks to them to solve its problems; not to synch with government, but to make up for its deficiencies.

After the damning report into the Archegos Capital Management affair, Credit Suisse’s top management is likely to spend the rest of 2021 in a strategic huddle. Further upheaval at the investment bank is inevitable, but the business remains an essential part of the group’s future, writes David Rothnie.

It is difficult these days, if not impossible, to find a bank that does not have an official policy or target to boost diversity and inclusion. By pushing them out of their comfort zones, could the pandemic help finally turn these aspirations into reality?

Aligning with a global commercial bank has been on Jefferies’ agenda for several years, but its alliance with SMBC signals an intent to join the investment banking big league. By David Rothnie.

The Bank of England looks set to wrap up a review of the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) without reconsidering its total asset threshold. That would be a mistake.

A sell-off in global equities at the beginning of last week, in response to the Delta-variant-fueled rise in Covid-19 cases, was largely erased in the following days. But the episode offered a glimpse of the disquiet in the market, and a hint as to the likely reaction if the pandemic were to take a course that put the brakes on economic growth.

The People & Markets section of GlobalCapital could almost have been called the Barclays section this week, given the number of stories that involved the bank. What has been going on?

UniCredit has quickly junked Jean Pierre Mustier’s legacy and forged a new strategy based on greater accountability, but the newly unveiled corporate and investment bank retains plenty of the character of the old one, writes David Rothnie.

Robinhood’s mission to democratise stock markets is taking its inevitable next step with its own initial public offering, of which it says it will sell between 20% to 35% to retail investors. But while opening up the IPO investor base beyond the institutional investor clique sounds good in theory, such transactions remain extremely risky for retail investors.

A huge Japanese financial holding company is buying a stake in a US investment bank. Where have we seen that before?

Goldman Sachs’s much-trumpeted middle-market investment banking initiative is being overshadowed by the bank’s natural affinity for the biggest and most complex deals, writes David Rothnie.