Morgan Stanley

Central banks have become integral to the fight against climate change in financial markets. Participants now expect them to wield their immense influence through many avenues of their work — economic analysis, metrics, supervision, investment and even monetary policy.

While the initial focus of sustainable finance efforts was largely on environmental action, social factors have grown increasingly prominent in recent years — underscored by the establishment of the Social Bond Principles in 2017. Subsequently, Covid and racial tensions in the US have each highlighted social disparities that are leading issuers and investors to treat diversity and inclusion as key parameters too.

With sovereign ESG bonds passing a clear inflection point, sustainability-linked bonds seeing notable growth and acceptance, and social bonds catapulted forward by a key borrower — the European Union (EU) — that is also poised to boost the green bonds market with an unprecedented €250bn programme, sustainable debt capital markets are reaching a new peak of activity across the capital structure from every issuer and credit type. So what’s driving the current boom and what will follow it?

Shares in Wise, the UK fintech group, had traded up more than 22% by Friday afternoon compared to the price at which it completed the first ever direct listing by a technology unicorn on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Equity bankers hailed the transaction as an alternative route to going public when the IPO market is difficult but the list of companies that could do such a deal is short, writes Aidan Gregory.

The Republic of Uzbekistan is seeking to capitalise on a successful dual currency bond it sold just months ago, by returning to the bond market to sell a dollar and Uzbek som bond that also includes a sustainable element.

LinkDoc Technology, a cancer-focused medical data company, has shelved its US IPO just hours before pricing, as Chinese technology stocks recoil from Beijing’s clampdown on overseas listings.

Indian unicorn Zomato, a food delivery service, has set the final terms for its up to Rp98.9bn ($1.32bn) IPO.

Chinese biotechnology company Brii Biosciences has raised HK$2.48bn ($319.7m) from its Hong Kong IPO, after pricing the deal at the top of the marketed range.

A recent lull in dollar bond supply from Indian corporations meant investors rushed to buy REC’s $400m deal on Tuesday, with the electricity company leveraging the demand to price inside of fair value.

UK private equity group Bridgepoint has confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.

France is preparing a 30 year OAT syndication, capitalising on a market that seems eager for paper that has snapped up an EFSF tap with an order book more than eight times subscribed.

Only HSBC and RBC Capital Markets are underwriting Fortress’s £9.5bn bid to take UK supermarket chain Morrisons private, while only Morgan Stanley is advising Apollo on its potential rival bid. This leaves plenty of scope for other banks to team up with sponsors to make rival offers.