UK Sovereign

Two sterling public sector bond issues were announced on Tuesday, but aside from timing, the trades had little in common. The UK Debt Management Office printed £2.5bn at 50 years, while the International Finance Corp raised £350m with a seven year.

Artemis Investment Management has appointed Matthew Beesley as its new chief investment officer. He will join in April, replacing Peter Saacke, who will concentrate on managing some of Artemis’s funds.

The UK Debt Management Office has selected the syndicate that will run the books for its upcoming tap — its final syndication of the 2019/2020 financial year.

During a recent market consultation, Gilt investors called on the UK Debt Management Office to issue floating rate notes linked to Sonia, the Bank of England’s recommended replacement for Libor. There are plenty of reasons why this is a good idea.

The first bond from the UK’s five year old Municipal Bonds Agency will be launched in the next week or two and, thanks to some tweaking of the agency's operating practices, more are set to follow, writes Lewis McLellan.

The buy side is keen to be able to buy Gilts that pay a coupon linked to Sonia, investors have told GlobalCapital. The matter was also raised with the UK Debt Management Office, according to the minutes of its latest consultation meeting.

The UK Debt Management Office and the UK Treasury have launched an invitation to tender for the appointment of syndicate banks to run the sovereign’s second sukuk, which is being planned for this year.

Lancashire County Council looks set to become the first borrower to make use of the UK Municipal Bonds Agency, preparing a deal to hit the market in the next few weeks. A second bond from the MBA is set to follow in March or April.

The UK Debt Management Office has chosen the week for its fifth and final syndication of its 2019/2020 financial year.

Andrew Bailey is seen as a ‘safe pair of hands’ as the new governor of the Bank of England. But while he is a veteran of the bank, his views on monetary policy are not well known, as he has never served on the Monetary Policy Committee. In that respect, though a career central banker, he resembles Christine Lagarde, who has taken the helm at the European Central Bank.

The shine from last week’s Conservative Party win in the UK general election has worn off in the UK Gilts market, due, in part, to fears that the country may crash out the European Union without a trade deal in place.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress European sovereigns have made in their funding programmes as we approach the end of 2019, with some issuers also setting their funding targets for 2020.