Banks, issuers and third parties are increasingly collaborating instead of competing as they try to make a digitised fixed income market a reality, two new initiatives suggest.

Global M&A activity topped US$1trn in the third quarter for the first time in more than three years, sparking optimism that a pickup in investment banking fees will accelerate into 2026.

The UK has retained its crown as the top hub for trading foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives, according to a report from the Bank for International Settlements, underlining how London remains at the heart of financial markets five years on from the country’s exit from the European Union. 

Fiona Chan is joining Lloyds Banking Group's securitisation team based in London, according to several sources. Chan was head of the Barclays UK principal funding and securitisation team in the bank's UK treasury operation, with responsibility for Barclays' UK RMBS, covered bond and risk transfer securitisation programmes. 

Egypt made a successful visit to the Islamic finance market with its first such deal in over two years as investors continue to back the sovereign’s fiscal progress.

Banks, issuers and third parties are increasingly collaborating instead of competing as they try to make a digitised fixed income market a reality, two new initiatives suggest.

Commerzbank on Thursday priced the tightest five-year euro covered bond of 2025, a €500m public sector Pfandbrief that ultimately generated subdued demand, having faced some investor pushback. 

US asset-backed issuance rang up its biggest third quarter in the post-credit-crisis era as issuers continued to take advantage of favorable funding conditions and keen investor demand.

Supply from relatively rarely seen jurisdictions is landing in the market, with two from Portugal and one from the Netherlands. Nevertheless, market participants are starting to question the resilience of spreads after several weeks of sustained ABS dealflow after summer.

Santander Consumer Finance’s latest auto securitisation was upsized amid strong demand as European dealflow started to slow down a bit after the post-summer peak.

Duke Energy raised more than US$1bn via two securitisations on Tuesday to recover costs caused by a series of severe storms that slammed its service territory across North Carolina from 2020 to 2024. 

Kathy Ryan has left her role as chief sustainability officer at UK-headquartered asset manager M&G. 

The decision by Italian utility Enel to turn its back on sustainability-linked bonds and issue only conventional debt is driving debate about the implications for the company and the future of the asset class it pioneered. 

Rabobank piqued investors' interest as it made its return to the euro FIG market on Tuesday with a €1bn 10-year green non-preferred transaction. 

Brazil has committed US$1bn to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility , marking the first investment in the ambitious US$125bn vehicle that aims to incentivise countries to preserve their environmentally critical forests and will create a major new investor in emerging market debt.

Neptune Insurance's principal financial backers pocketed US$368m late Tuesday from an NYSE IPO that was heavily oversubscribed but traded to a modest premium on debut.

Fermi secured US$682.5m from its Nasdaq/LSE IPO late Tuesday to underpin what is one of the most dramatic financial ramp-ups ever, assisting the nine-month-old startup’s ambitions to become a preeminent supplier of power to AI hyperscalers.

The IPOs for security company Verisure and prosthetics maker Ottobock attracted orders totalling billions of euros in minutes on Tuesday, covering both deals multiple times.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals secured an upsized US$65m from a follow-on stock sale priced overnight Tuesday to fund a Phase III trial for its promising respiratory drug. 

The US federal government shut down, while the US leveraged loan market kept its doors wide open with investors largely unfazed by Washington’s budget standoff. Leveraged loans, investment-grade credit and private lending all held steady, with bankers and investors pointing to strong technical conditions and a market already hardened by a year of policy uncertainty.

US borrowers raised over US$845bn via the broadly syndicated loan market in the third quarter, a 5% decrease compared to the second quarter, but a 21% jump compared to a year ago, pushing issuance for the first nine months of the year to US$2.54trn.

Prime issuance conditions and a relative dearth of new money have provided a fresh opportunity for sponsors to load up on leverage for assets they are sitting on through choice or necessity.

Four overseas lenders are facing an uphill battle to recover more than US$600m from a Chinese company that was once part of property developer Guangzhou R&F Properties, after the latter's chairman withheld the company's seal to prevent the lenders from removing him as legal representative.