With India’s faltering economy lurching from bad to worse the country’s central bank governor-designate has his work cut out to tackle problems ranging from a falling currency and high inflation to urgently needed structural reforms.

Encumbrance of assets on banks’ balance sheets has shot up in the eurozone periphery especially, sparking a push for greater disclosure in the market amid fears over increased risk sensitivity among unsecured creditors.

More European companies should consider issuing renminbi bonds to build a name in China, despite plentiful euro and dollar financing elsewhere, writes Ingrid Hengster, RBS Country Head, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

China’s economy is embarking on a new and critical phase of development as the country attempts to navigate its way beyond growth for growth’s sake to create an economy that serves the needs of its people.

The ‘bail-in’ provisions of the European Union’s resolution regime continue to create concerns among creditors about where they stand in the pecking order for payments if everything goes wrong. Meanwhile regulators and owners of bank debt are still evaluating the demand for credit under the new rules.

European regulators are apparently preparing for a regulatory turf war over the reformed Libor benchmark. A draft EU legislative proposal leaked in early June indicates that Brussels feels that Libor falls within its jurisdiction to regulate important market benchmarks, their contributors and their administrators.

Brazilian capital markets are showing signs of life again after a particularly torrid summer as industrial conglomerate Odebrecht priced a $1.7 billion nine-year bond. But investor wariness towards Latin America’s largest economy persists.

The leader of the global monetary cycle will profoundly shape investor sentiment towards emerging market assets – with Janet Yellen seen as a dovish boost for markets – given the structural link between US policy rates and foreign ownership of the local government debt stock. But the master-slave relationship of yesteryear is over.

European companies building infrastructure should consider bonds at the very start of a project for the money they need. Bond markets are rapidly becoming the best place to turn as Basel III regulations force banks to lend less and for shorter periods. Bert Schoen, Head of CEEMEA Structured Finance and Bruce Riley, Managing Director, Secured Debt Markets, at RBS, explain.

China’s decision to remove the floor on bank lending rates is meaningful because it paves the way for further interest rate reforms that in time could increase competition in the banking sector, usher in more flexible exchange rates and open the capital account.

As tapering edges closer in the US, attention is turning to how the Fed might deploy its policy arsenal to engineer a rise in interest rates in an orderly fashion, with reverse repo operations on the agenda, say analysts.

Five years on from the financial crisis, high-frequency trading remains under an intense spotlight, with regulators on both sides of the Atlantic determined to crack down on alleged manipulation of markets, triggering an inevitable backlash from market players that claim illiquidity, price distortions and regulatory arbitrage will come to the fore if regulators make good on draconian threats.

Hedge funds that use sophisticated computer systems rather than human judgement to make investment decisions have had a rather torrid summer. An abrupt sell-off across equities, bonds and commodities after official comments that the Fed would look to taper down the asset purchases saw many automated strategies post negative returns.

Despite the strides China is making in the development of its $2.7 trillion government bond market, it remains structurally inefficient, thanks to meagre trading volume in an asset class strangled by the country’s fixed interest rate regime. Calls are growing for greater efforts to develop the government and corporate bond market structure in a bid to boost the efficiency of savings and non-bank financing.

US regulators are dedicating increasing levels of scrutiny to the physical commodities interests of investment banks just as a law allowing Wall Street banks to maintain a presence in the product area comes up for review.

China is on the cusp of a new boom, according to leading academic and advisor to the Communist government.

Insurers are lagging other financial institutions in preparing for the central clearing of derivatives and the knock-on impacts for investment strategy and risk management. Ian Cooper, Head of UK Insurance and Pension Sales, and Emily Penn, Director ALM Advisory at RBS, explain.

A regulatory-driven initiative to boost interoperability in the European trilateral repo market should boost the efficiency of collateral. However, before the new system can be put in place, there is the sizeable task of bringing settlement systems together.