BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research highlights the importance of the peripheral trade (BTPs vs. Bunds) for the health of the credit market. Should peripheral spreads fail to rebound, BofA Merrill Lynch think that flows into credit will struggle going forward and so will returns.

Nomura Holdings, Inc. announced that it applied to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on May 8 to establish a joint venture securities firm.

During the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, on April 20, Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), acting on behalf of the Global Emerging Markets (GEMs) Risk Database Consortium, and Joaquim Levy the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank signed a membership agreement, making the IBRD the nineteenth member of the Consortium.

A Memorandum of Understanding to enhance collaboration on sustainable economic development was signed on April 18 by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the African Development Bank and formalized during the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, DC.

Heavy scrutiny by supervisors has put the balance sheet clean-up plans of Italian banks under the spotlight; reducing NPEs has emerged as a key element of the banks' business plans. Intesa and UniCredit look well placed to achieve their targets by 2021.