Jefferies said it expects to recoup 85% of the £103m it lent to Market Financial Solutions, the UK-headquartered bridge loan provider that was put into administration at the end of February.

JP Morgan has hired Fergus Horrobin from UBS as head of international real estate investment banking, as part of its building up of its real estate team.

The €3.8bn listing of Czechoslovak Group in January and Anduril Industries’ plan to raise US$4bn or more in private markets are spearheading a surge in equity capital markets and private fundraising across the defence and aerospace sector, which bankers said looks set to accelerate – especially for defence technology firms.

The US and Israeli military strikes against Iran have reverberated through financial markets in recent days, reigniting concerns over inflation and causing investors to dump popular bond wagers.

For the second week in a row, volatile market conditions owing to the war in the Middle East disrupted credit issuers' plans on Monday as attention focused on a surge in the oil price.

Two energy-related names, Baker Hughes and Eaton Corporation, helped fling open the doors of the high-grade bond markets on both sides of the Atlantic in a late-week financing rush as borrowers emerged in force after a brief lull sparked by the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East.

New benchmarks from Germany and Austria proved too good for investors to resist on Tuesday, even with the outbreak of war in the Middle East and a renewed threat of inflation leading to a selloff in government bonds.

Mongolia made a daring outing in the US dollar bond market on Monday while other borrowers held back after the start of hostilities between the US/Israel and Iran. 

Confidence returned reasonably quickly in the securitisation market in Europe last week after a war-induced shaky start when a few structured deals that had been lined up for Monday were pushed back.

The collapse of Market Financial Solutions is offering fresh evidence that the “cockroaches” JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned of last year are not confined to the US, as a clearer picture emerges of the lending various banks provided to the failed UK mortgage lender. 

The Australian RMBS market is taking a breather as investors and issuers await calmer waters after the US/Israeli military attack on Iran sparked a spike in global credit spreads.

Redwood Trust sold its first-ever securitised deal backed by non-qualified mortgages as the specialty finance company continued to make a push into the market for homebuyers and renters who do not necessarily meet traditional lending requirements.

British International Investment, the UK’s national development finance institution, and emerging markets private credit investor ILX have inaugurated a US$500m impact financing partnership with their long-awaited first joint deal.

While the US-led war in Iran is reinforcing the importance of energy security and strengthening the strategic rationale for the energy transition, implementation could be delayed by governments' changing spending priorities and strategic sustainable finance deals could be postponed in the short-term. 

Swiss private bank and wealth management firm Union Bancaire Privee's Positive Impact Emerging Equity strategy is facing the happy problem of how to invest potential inflows as early investments in the energy transition are paying off amid a steep rally in emerging markets. 

Finnish steelmaker Outokumpu is positioning itself as a sector leader in energy transition as a low-carbon "green steel" manufacturer and is using an internal carbon price to assess all decarbonisation investments. 

A secondary follow-on in Japanese video game giant Nintendo will raise ¥197.8bn (US$1.2bn) for a group of shareholders after being priced at a 3% discount.

Logistics property developer and investment manager GLP is planning to raise at least US$1bn from a Hong Kong IPO this year, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Plans for Jio Platforms, more commonly known as Reliance Jio, to launch an IPO in the first half of this year may be delayed as it still awaits final government approval of rules that would lower the minimum free float, people with knowledge of the transaction said.

Shenzhen-listed Victory Giant Technology (HuiZhou) has won approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for a Hong Kong listing which people with knowledge of the matter said could raise at least US$2bn.

Banks underwriting roughly US$57.5bn of debt backing Paramount Skydance’s US$110bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery are expected to tap global credit markets to place one of the largest takeover financings ever arranged. 

Goldman Sachs has taken a hit on a US$1.1bn leveraged loan backing resins maker Arclin’s purchase of DuPont’s Aramids business, after the deal ran into a volatile market backdrop that weakened investor demand.

Business assurance and inspection services provider LRQA was the only European leveraged finance borrower to brave a week when geopolitics once more threatened to upend markets.

Chinese securities firms are tapping the offshore loan market at an accelerating pace, with record profits, resurgent equity markets and a regulatory overhaul set to expand balance-sheet capacity at the country’s leading brokerages.

The collapse of Market Financial Solutions follows a familiar and concerning pattern. According to documents submitted to London’s High Court at the commencement of its administration process, MFS may have double-pledged assets, potentially leaving a collateral shortfall of £930m. Loans to MFS totalled £1.16bn, and there was only £230m of “true value” available in the collateral accounts.

It is unbecoming to say “I told you so”, but when it comes to Meta Platforms’ US$27.3bn project bond to fund its Hyperion data centre via private credit shop Blue Owl Capital (and SPV Beignet Investor) the temptation is strong. I wrote in late 2025 that Meta’s decision not to consolidate the debt on its balance sheet sits uneasily with the economic risk that investors have assumed they are taking when they bought the deal in October. And now Meta’s auditor, EY, clearly feels this same tension.

Full-year earnings from European banks – Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and UBS – showed them broadly holding market share in the markets’ business, but struggling to capitalise on the upswing in investment banking. 

The repo market is the heartbeat of bond markets. Like a real heartbeat, when all is well, there is nothing more boring. But when things go wrong … watch out.