Oracle has pledged to do everything it can to preserve its investment-grade rating, as the cloud computing provider seeks to assuage increasing nervousness over the gargantuan amounts of debt it is taking on to fulfil commitments made to hyperscaler clients such as OpenAI.

Investment banking fees are up 10% from a year ago and set for their second best ever year, thanks to record revenue from debt underwriting and a resurgence in M&A and equity capital markets that picked up pace at the tail of the year to bode well for 2026.

Lebanon will shortly take a crucial step in its long road to recovery, five years after it defaulted, when its cabinet puts forward a proposed law outlining how the roughly US$80bn of losses incurred across its financial sector should be split between its public and private institutions.

Six major banks in the London FX market have succeeded in their appeal against a ruling that said they might have to compensate former currency clients after admitting they had run cartels between 2007 and 2013.

Swedish real estate company Castellum failed to get approval from bondholders for a consent solicitation on two euro notes, creating a roadblock in the company's plans to refocus its portfolio.

Pakistan has secured guarantees from multilateral development banks for its Panda bond programme, with the inaugural US$250m tranche now slated for January, said Omer Khan, debt management adviser to the finance minister.

The European Commission has told investors not to worry too much about the near-term impact on its 2026 funding plans of the EU's decision to lend €90bn to Ukraine, saying it will update the market when more details have been confirmed.

Blackstone has priced its sixth CMBS issue of the year, a £443m transaction backed by logistics assets. Investor sentiment toward the sector remains constructive, as seen when DBMS 2025-1 DAC landed with a weighted-average margin of 172bp over Sonia, matching the tightest spreads seen on a UK CMBS this year.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has completed its first synthetic risk transfer in Asia Pacific, highlighting an instrument that is becoming more relevant to banks in the region.

Europe’s structured finance market is expected to be underpinned by favourable lending conditions across the region in 2026 with a broader mix of issuers and collateral types, after enjoying record volumes this year.

Europe’s securitisation market is closing 2025 at its strongest level since the global financial crisis, with placed issuance estimated at around €160bn, ahead of another busy year expected.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the African Development Bank are set to deepen the nascent market for multilateral development bank securitisation with landmark deals in the new year. 

Fashion group Hugo Boss has signed a €600m, five-year revolving credit facility with 11 banks, which replaces the borrower's equally-sized RCF placed in November 2021.

Singaporean multi-modal transport operator ComfortDelGro has obtained two green loans totalling S$160m (US$) from DBS Bank and United Overseas Bank to support the purchase of new electric buses for its operations in the UK.

Germany’s KfW, one of the world’s largest green bond issuers, is ramping up issuance of the use-of-proceeds instrument even as peers fall back. 

Chinese data infrastructure and analytics company Shenzhen Xunce Technology has priced its Hong Kong IPO at the bottom of the range at HK$48 per share to raise HK$1.08bn (US$139m), said people with knowledge of the matter.

India's ASG Eye Hospital is planning a US$400m–$500m IPO next year and is in the process of finalising the syndicate, people with knowledge of the transaction said. 

Beijing 51World Digital Twin Technology has raised HK$732m (US$94.1m) from a Hong Kong IPO.

Europe’s CLO market is continuing to build momentum, attracting a broader range of investors and setting the stage for another strong year of issuance in 2026, according to market participants.

A series of high-profile leveraged finance deals from the US combined with an upturn in homegrown deals is providing some much-needed action for the European leveraged finance market. At least €16.5bn of M&A-related issuance is on the way and should help satisfy demand from CLO platforms coming off a record 12 months and set for another year of plenty.

Sizeable direct lenders in Europe have responded to banks winning deals from large-cap issuers by joining the throngs in the crowded mid-market arena, accelerating spread compression for smaller borrowers.