UK Sovereign

The UK Debt Management Office drew praise on Tuesday as it priced the final syndication of its 2017-18 financial year at the tight end of a tiny guidance range. Bankers said that result, coupled with the behaviour of the UK’s outstanding curve over the course of the deal, was particularly impressive given a turbulent backdrop in the wider financial markets.

The round of redundancies at Barclays Investment Bank has hit more senior figures, including the head of EMEA leveraged finance, a vice-chairman in ECM, the COO of EMEA banking, as well as other managing directors across the origination businesses.

France is hoping to add its name to a growing list of sovereigns in China’s Panda bond market, having discussed the possibility with at least two of the country’s biggest state-owned banks.

Sterling issuance was thin this week relative to its scorching start to the year although there was still room for Kommunalbanken to print its largest ever deal in the currency. Strong supply is on the way from the UK Debt Management Office but while demand is as good as some bankers have ever seen, other deals may be limited by technical factors.

An ex-SSA DCM banker has joined the UK's Financial Conduct Authority to focus on wholesale banking supervision.

Two European government bond traders who resigned earlier this year from Barclays are heading to hedge funds.

Barclays rolled out sweeping cuts to its investment bank on Wednesday, with around 100 jobs gone across the business, including several managing directors in the EMEA primary bonds business.

Both Gilt-edged market makers and investors predominantly support a reopening of the UK's 2048 inflation linked bond for its final syndication of the 2017-18 financial year.

The Dutch State Treasury Agency's primary dealer quotation obligations gave Bank of America Merrill Lynch trader Paul Walter the chance to pick off his counterparts on the ‘BrokerTec’ platform — behaviour for which he was fined by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority on Wednesday.

Increased UK borrowing needs could take the shine off an opportunity for SSA borrowers to take advantage of a potential drop in issuance by the European Investment Bank as the UK leaves the European Union, said bankers.

A former Bank of America Merrill Lynch trader has been fined £60,090 for manipulating the price of Dutch government bonds on the electronic platform BrokerTec — though the profit made on the trading was 'insignificant'.

Repo traders convened this week in Brussels to rethink how to fix the plumbing of financial markets and mulled using other forms of collateral in the market.