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The lack of clarity over whether the UK and the EU will clinch a trade deal before the end of the year also makes it harder for those in financial markets to know whether equivalence decisions will be granted for the trading obligations for derivatives (DTO) and shares (STO).

At the end of a strong year, Deutsche Bank told investors that its investment bank had not simply benefitted from a rising tide lifting all boats, but that it would be able to carry on generating much of the extra revenue it created in 2020. It also boasted of working on a number of European sovereign debt deals.

Berenberg is developing into a pan-European mid-market powerhouse, with big growth ambitions for 2021, writes David Rothnie.

The coronavirus crisis, new challengers, technology and capital requirements threaten to shake up the banking sector — and banks are likely to shift business models substantially, according to management consultancy firm Arthur D Little.

Deutsche Bank is joining the ranks of banks that tie their top managers’ bonuses to sustainability targets, highlighting the fact that there is great variety in how this is done among leading investment banks.

Investment bankers have piled up heaps of revenue for their firms this year, but their employers may feel the need not to be too generous with bonuses in the first few months of next year.

The sustainable finance market clamoured for a Taxonomy to tell it what was green. Now it’s here, many are finding the answers constraining or simplistic. Alarmingly, the Taxonomy is also perpetuating the very thing it was supposed to root out — greenwashing.

The European Central Bank is set to meet on Thursday and is widely expected to announce a substantial increase to its Asset Purchase Programme. Antonio Cavarero, head of investment at Generali Investments, expects the ECB to stand foursquare behind European government borrowing.

Bankers and investors are unconcerned by an inquiry by UK members of Parliament into the cost-effectiveness of syndicated Gilt issues.

The European Union’s Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities, the cornerstone of its action on sustainable finance, looks set to bless several technologies such as biofuels and hydroelectric power that are not just environmentally questionable but actively harmful, as a result of lobbying by vested interests.

UniCredit chief executive Jean Pierre Mustier upset the Italian establishment but he acted in the best interests of shareholders. But if he moves on, the bank would face an uncertain fate amid a new chapter of domestic and international banking M&A, writes David Rothnie.

The European Commission is considering a way to proceed with its €750bn coronavirus recovery fund that will exclude Hungary and Poland. The two countries have stood firm in their opposition over the idea that receipt of EU funds will depend on states adhering to the rule of law.