North America

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?

Morgan Stanley ventured north of the 49th parallel this week to visit a Maple bond market that is on course for its busiest year for financial institutions issuance since the 2008 financial crisis.

Investment banks are broadening the search for talent and tweaking their recruitment message to attract and retain the bankers of the future, as working conditions and corporate culture emerge as hot topics after a difficult period for staff in the industry.

Export Development Canada (EDC) sold the first offshore Chilean peso bond of the year as it dropped into the currency in search of short dated borrowing earlier this week.

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.

Canada’s Equitable Bank covered programme received legislative approval this week, paving the way for a debut deal in the coming months.

The Province of Ontario received a strong reception in the Canadian dollar market on Tuesday, helping it to issue its biggest ever green bond in the currency.

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.

NatWest Markets has given its head of emerging markets strategy, Alvaro Vivanco, an additional role as head of ESG macro strategy.

SMBC has beefed up its coverage of the technology sector with the addition of two senior bankers in San Francisco who previously worked together at HSBC.

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?

British Airways issued its first sustainability-linked bond this week, something still very rare in the airline industry. It was one of only a handful of issuers that braved volatility to enter the US corporate bond market this week.