Comment EM and The Cover

Chinese regulators have made a long overdue move to reduce the number of boards at the Shenzhen stock exchange. That points to a greater commitment towards streamlining the country’s sometimes confounding capital markets.

The Term Funding Scheme could easily take on more importance as a policy tool at the Bank of England.

Global equity markets were propelled to new all-time highs at the end of last year when various drug companies announced that they were close to releasing vaccines to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with the vaccine roll-out slow, new mutant variants of the virus raging and governments striking a sombre tone, investors need to prepare for the fact that they may have bought in haste.

A new era has begun in the US, with the swearing in of Joe Biden as president. For America and the rest of the world it is a sea change in leadership style and political substance.

Social bonds have long been the poor cousin of green bonds. A smaller, less well organised market.

Big firms like HSBC, BlackRock and JP Morgan are always being criticised for environmental, social and governance failings. The remedy lies in their hands.

The closing of borders between mainland Europe and the UK has provided a brief glimpse into the chaos that the immediate imposition of trading restrictions between the UK and EU might caused in the event of a no-deal Brexit on December 31. Both sides need to work around the clock to finalise a deal with a generous implementation period to avoid the kind of nightmare scenario that could lead to investors fleeing the UK.

As countries across Europe tighten coronavirus restrictions in the run-up to Christmas, the European Central Bank saw fit to relax its ban on dividends on Tuesday and pave the way for resumed payments in 2021.

As Boris Johnson embarks on a green industrial revolution, he has happened upon one of those rare moments when government policy seems completely aligned with investor appetite. The UK must use this capital markets sweet spot to transform its energy infrastructure next year and beyond.

If MREL is going to be an important line of defence for Europe’s banking system, market participants had better be able to see those defences. At the moment, they are hidden in mists.

The UK government is in the midst of a review that is seeking to make London a more attractive listing venue for high growth international technology companies. While change is undoubtedly concerning for some who do not want the UK to lose its reputation for high standards, the UK should not ignore a chance for the London Stock Exchange to evolve.

Green bonds awakened the debt capital markets from their long, slumbrous ignorance of environmental peril.