Asian currency markets in the Year of the Fire Horse; ready to gallop? Asian currency markets in the Year of the Fire Horse; ready to gallop?

Memory chips have quietly become the most important commodities in the global economy.

The dollar’s slide last year looks less like a sudden break and more like the culmination of pressures that have been gathering for a while. The fading of US exceptionalism has sat quietly in the background, and once the narrative started to normalise, the cracks became clearer: softer growth expectations, slower capital inflows, and valuations that had been leaning heavily on the idea that the US could keep outperforming indefinitely.

The sharp sell‑off across software names in recent weeks has prompted questions from investors, many centred on whether the rapid rise of agentic artificial intelligence marks the beginning of a deeper structural shift in enterprise technology. The catalyst was the latest demonstration from Anthropic’s Claude platform, whose new “Cowork” and “Code” capabilities promise to automate tasks that were once firmly in human hands, from drafting documents and synthesising research to generating production‑ready code. Equity markets were quick to draw conclusions, punishing enterprise software companies without…

The record breaking $55bn leveraged buyout (LBO) of Electronic Arts (EA) is expected to close this year. But in a twist that could madden bondholders, EA is tendering for its bonds well below par instead of honouring the 101 Change of Control provision, saving itself over $250m at bondholders’ expense. Many bonds include a Change of Control clause that requires the issuer to offer to repurchase at 101 in the event of a takeover. The idea is to protect bondholders from a deterioration in credit…

Investors’ appetite for local markets remains solid. In our view, this is supported by two main factors. The first one being that emerging markets continue to offer compelling macroeconomic fundamentals, and the second one being a rising interest in diversification from structurally long USD exposures. We outline four key reasons why our Emerging Market Debt (EMD) team believes EM local debt should continue to offer value in the quarters ahead.

With geopolitics taking centre stage, the seismic tremors of Stablecoin activity go largely unnoticed. Stablecoins sit at a fascinating intersection of finance and technology. They promise the speed and programmability of cryptocurrencies with the price stability of traditional money. What began as a niche settlement tool for crypto markets is now being discussed as a parallel monetary system—with profound implications for banks, credit creation, and financial stability. What are stablecoins? Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value, usually pegged to a fiat…