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FIG rainmaker Andrea Orcel is stepping back into the limelight as UniCredit chief executive, just as momentum is building for large-scale banking consolidation. He has an array of M&A options, but will he be shy in pulling the trigger? David Rothnie reports.

UBS, the first major European investment bank to report fourth quarter results, smashed through expectations in global banking, with that part of its business benefiting from equity capital markets revenue more than doubling year-on-year.

The European Central Bank will use a new climate change centre to improve its work on the topic, while also investing in a new green bond fund set up by the Bank for International Settlements.

Three of the most active banks in financing oil exports from the Ecuadorian Amazon — an environmentally destructive industry with a long track record of trampling on indigenous people’s rights — have agreed to cease important parts of their financial support, after pressure from NGOs and a devastating oil spill in 2020.

A cross-party group of UK members of Parliament has written to Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, calling on the Bank to start greening its quantitative easing and Covid support programmes.

Credit Suisse has made seven appointments within its sustainability strategy, advisory and finance (SSAF) unit:. Five are external hires while two come from its own investment bank.

Santander reckons it can harness the power of hydrogen to boost its standing in corporate and investment banking, building on its ESG credentials in similar way to how rivals built supremacy during the internet boom, writes David Rothnie.

RBC Capital Markets has reorganised its European equity capital markets and corporate broking business following the decision of Darrell Uden to step down at the end of this month.

HSBC has created a dedicated sustainable and transition finance team for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, as the region tries to make its economies more sustainable.

Top US bankers are optimistic about their investment banking businesses for the start of 2021, after a stellar 2020 during which their clients rushed to financing markets to help them get through the Covid-19 crisis, and government and central banks provided essential support.

Frazer Ross, head of investment grade debt syndicate for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Deutsche Bank, is taking a sabbatical.

Many EU companies could do with capital beyond debt, according to the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (Afme). The trade body, in a report it produced alongside PwC, suggests encouraging the use of equity-adjacent products to fill balance sheet gaps from the coronavirus crisis.