UK

Nationwide Building Society put an end to a two year absence from the euro senior market this week, taking advantage of solid issuance conditions to bring in €1bn of new funding.

Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, has already thrown some cash from the air to boost the economy and prevent a more serious downturn, with job retention measures, a cut in VAT and meal vouchers. But that won’t be enough. The UK needs a full scale helicopter drop.

UK equity capital markets have undergone changes during the Covid-19 pandemic, including allowing retail investors to participate in accelerated recapitalisations of London-listed companies via PrimaryBid. The rise of the app represents a long overdue change but its impact is likely to be limited.

Equity investors have welcomed rumours that Japanese conglomerate Softbank is exploring a potential IPO for Arm, the UK semiconductor and software designer, and are hoping that the company might return to the London Stock Exchange.

Fitch played down fears about the impact of payment holidays on UK covered bond pools this week, arguing that high credit quality would offer a strong line of defence against defaults.

Investors have been given their first taste of how regulatory relief could bolster bank capital levels amid Covid-19, after Barclays told the market this week to expect a drastic improvement in its common equity tier one (CET1) ratio in the second quarter.

IP Group has sold £53.5m of shares in Ceres Power Holding, the UK solid oxide fuel cell maker, via an accelerated bookbuild.

Adrian Lewis, the long-serving head of EMEA equity capital markets at HSBC, left the bank at the end of June to pursue other opportunities unrelated to investment banking and ECM.

HIG Capital has appointed a new head of HIG WhiteHorse Europe, the private equity firm’s European direct lending affiliate.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the FTSE 250 investment company focused on music royalties, has completed its latest capital increase, as it gears up for a spree of acquisitions.

Segro, the FTSE 100 UK real estate investment trust, has entered the private placement market with an initial target of €250m.

UK chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak announced a stimulus package totalling up to £30bn on Wednesday, driving a wedge between some bankers and investors about how big an impact the measures will have on the capital markets.