NatWest Markets

The retail sale of Lloyds Bank shares will be delayed, rather than held this spring as planned, UK chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne said today.

Royal Bank of Scotland announced £3.6bn of extra costs related to litigation and pensions on Wednesday, which will take the part-nationalised lender to a full year loss.

European banks continued with their cautious approach to primary markets this week, but with covered bonds returning to the fore hopes are rising for a more exciting February.

The European Investment Bank and the Federal State of Berlin announced on Monday their intention to print in euros in a week in which the European Central Bank is expected to make a decision regarding interest rates.

The Inter-American Development Bank has printed a £250m December 2019 bond that has set a new record for year-to-date supranational and agency sterling issuance.

A series of oversubscribed deals among core issuers could encourage Austria to seek a print in the current market.

Telecom Italia brought the first telecoms bond deal of the year to the European market on Wednesday, tapping both high yield and investment grade investors.

Nationwide Building Society has continued its funding surge into 2016, offering sterling investors a rare chance to pick up long dated senior unsecured paper from a UK lender.

The European Financial Stability Facility and Nederlandse Waterschapsbank on Tuesday brought euro benchmarks in five and seven year maturities. Now much more at those tenors is expected.

Both KfW and the Council of Europe hit the books in sterling-denominated deals that raised £300m apiece.

A bevvy of public sector borrowers are lining up euro deals for Tuesday and beyond — but some are opting to hold back price thoughts amid a cluttered and volatile backdrop.

Santander UK was set to print a solid sterling senior holdco debut on Friday, but different views of the appropriate spread between opco and holdco debt meant rival bankers couldn't agree on fair value for the deal.