Western Europe

Former investment bank head Tim ‘Danger’ Throsby sadly isn’t at the firm to see the team he built deliver in a crisis.

Liquidity data from CLS has revealed unusual trading activity around the 4pm London fix – but it has more to do with corporate inertia than market manipulation.

Revolvers could be the debt Achilles heel of cash-strapped corporates.

The coronavirus crisis has hit Europe so hard and so suddenly that banks have to radically rethink their normal approaches to dealing with a crisis.

Banks need to play their part in rescues without putting all the burden on shareholder funds, says Santander’s group executive chairman.

UK banks have faced a torrent of criticism for slow delivery of the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme, but the real problem is that the UK is providing loans that need to be repaid. Grants offered by governments such as Germany look better designed.

With consumers and businesses demanding instant access to Covid-19 support financing, the RBI chief executive warns of a backlash against banks.

Entering a potential credit crisis, when they are still battling an old one, leaves Italy’s banks exposed. That means strong government backing is more important than ever.

French banks are handing out more state-guaranteed loans than other country in Europe, but they have more to worry about than small businesses in France.

The biggest challenge in German banking has suddenly gone from job cuts to handing out state-guaranteed loans as quickly as possible.

The country’s biggest firms are doing all they can to bolster their reputation, as the nation faces a human and economic crisis brought on by Covid-19.

Sell-side research is integrating alternative data to navigate the current coronavirus crisis. It’s the future for bank research, but it’s not an easy transition.

Veteran DCM banker Charlie Berman closes in on first product launch aimed at digitizing processes and workflows along the life of a bond.

Just when SSA bankers were getting used to a market supportive of deals again, Germany has surprised them with a change of approach.

The German leader joins local private banks in starting to steer clients towards third-party deposits platforms as the sector tries to pass on negative rates.

Green bond issuance slows in market turmoil, while social bonds offer means to finance Covid-19 responses.

Global cash managers are having to move fast and adapt solutions to support clients through the Covid-19 crisis.

The coronavirus Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the need to build better consumer financial resilience – bank efforts to support personal savings and debt reduction will have a greater impact than writing cheques.

Smaller asset managers and hedge funds that went into the cloud for trading may be better off than big banks that spent billions on proprietary server-based infrastructure.

Private equity buyers have never had so much cash to put to work; they are already looking to make new investments in companies that will survive the lockdowns.

For a sector reeling from money laundering scandals, it’s tempting to imagine that technology could be a low-cost way of solving such problems. AI could be a game changer for detecting low-level crime, but corporate-scale laundromats will remain tough to crack.

The transition from Libor must be delayed to avoid pressuring coronavirus-damaged markets.

Proof of the Swedish supervisor’s mettle raises questions about the Danish response to money laundering.

Banks came into the coronavirus pandemic much stronger than they went into the global financial crisis, but will the capital and liquidity buffers they have built be sufficient to see them through the most dramatic economic crash in history?

Most European residential mortgage-backed securities deals can absorb the hit from payment moratoria for now, but junior notes are at risk if the crisis persists.

The former UBS private banking chief leaves an impressive legacy across the wealth management industry.

Not only were corporate deals done last week, but they were done with most people being at home. This is the new normal for at least the next couple of months.

Central banks have told lenders to eat into their buffers, but intense debate remains over recognition of non-performing loans in the push for debt moratoria.

As the coronavirus Covid-19 crisis mounts, banks are finally being heard on negative rates, but that might not be a good thing.

The virtue of private capital is that it can withstand short-term volatility in valuations of assets held for the long term – and now is the time to prove that.