UK Sovereign

BNP Paribas said on Thursday that it had hired Paul Hollingsworth as UK economist.

There was a smattering of sterling deals from public sector borrowers this week, as the biggest issuer in the currency — the UK Debt Management Office — provided details for its next syndication.

To help celebrate the 20th anniversary of the setting up of the UK Debt Management Office, GlobalCapital gathered together some of the UK Gilt market’s leading traders, investors and bankers, with its CEO Sir Robert Stheeman, to discuss the state of the bond markets, how they have changed since the DMO was established in April 1998 and how the government’s investor base and bond issuance are likely to evolve over the coming years.

The UK Debt Management Office’s next syndication will be a new index-linked Gilt in the 20 to 25 year part of the curve. Some investors and Gilt-edged market makers had called for that tenor a week ago, although others had been looking for a longer dated issue.

Gilt investors and market makers have offered a broad range of views on the form that the UK’s next syndication should take during a meeting with the country’s Debt Management Office. The meeting was without Scotiabank, which last week quit as a Gilt-edged market maker (GEMM).

Rating: Aa2/AA/AA

The UK Debt Management Office again broke a couple of syndication records as it extended the Gilt curve on Tuesday, but onlooking bankers felt the real story was how the underlying Gilt curve behaved through the deal.

The UK Debt Management Office on Tuesday extended the conventional Gilt curve while breaking two of its syndication records. Bankers off the deal hailed the “great result”, while leads highlighted that the deal was already performing in secondary just a few hours after pricing.

The Bank of England avoided bringing any surprises before the UK Debt Management Office sells its first syndication of the 2018-19 financial year next week as it kept its base rate on hold on Thursday. But some analysts are warning that investors may be overconfident of a hike later this year.

The Dutch State Treasury Agency will clear its interest rate swaps at the clearing arm of German derivatives bourse Eurex, it was revealed on Tuesday.

The UK Debt Management Office has announced the banks that will run the orderbooks for its first syndication of the new funding year.

The UK’s conventional maturity curve is set to extend after the country’s Debt Management Office on Tuesday announced plans for its next syndication. The decision came as investors bemoaned the health of the sterling market.