Concern is growing over a likely spike in defaults among so-called ‘zombie’ companies that have stayed afloat during the coronavirus pandemic by relying on government stimulus and increasing their debt loads, but will struggle to keep servicing loans as government schemes roll back.

The World Federation of Exchanges, the global industry group for central counterparties (CCPs) and exchanges, has called for a careful and considered approach in any change to resolution arrangements at CCPs, as upsetting the tried and tested balance of incentives could damage stability and increase systemic risk.

Fixed income managers have seen a hectic first half of the year in 2020. In the US, a typical year’s worth of new issues was printed in the space of just four months, as the onset of the pandemic forced companies to take urgent action to shore up their finances.

MayStreet, a market data infrastructure provider, has added Fenics USTreasuries (Fenics UST) to its US cash treasury data portfolio. Owned and operated by BGC Financial, Fenics UST is a low-latency, fully electronic US Government securities trading venue that delivers displayed liquidity calibrated to the industry’s tightest tick increments.

Investors are eyeing China’s growing equity markets as signs of an economic recovery start to emerge. The IMF is forecasting that China will grow in 2020 and see a strong rebound in 2021, while projections for other large economies show them lagging behind.

Global exchanges are making the most of growing investor demand for sustainable products and ramping up their provision of ‘green’ bonds, making them the most commonly offered ESG investments for the first time, according to The World Federation of Exchanges’ (WFE) sixth annual sustainability survey. 

The UK’s FTSE 100 is taking longer to bounce back than other global indices, which are showing signs of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new tool by Daily FX.

Aviva Investors, the global asset management arm of Aviva, expects economic activity to continue to revive in the second half of the year, as lockdown measures imposed to inhibit the spread of the Covid-19 virus are gradually eased.

Refinitiv has launched ESG scores for funds, allowing comparisons at the fund level for fund managers, advisers and investors, as the world of sustainable investing continues to boom.

Investors that bought into the stock market recovery in April and May largely banked their gains in June, with equity funds shedding GBP1.2 billion in outflows, according to Calastone’s latest Fund Flow Index.