UK

Royal Bank of Scotland has become the first European bank to issue subordinated debt in more than two months. It took advantage of strong demand in the sterling market this week, with investors confident that the UK lender will be well placed to withstand the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Hiscox, the London-listed insurance and reinsurance company, has raised £375m through a sale of 57.6m new shares. Sources said that a strong showing by the management team persuaded them to back the share offering during challenging times for the company as it faces the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

US insurance companies that buy private placements are concerned the damaging effects of coronavirus on corporate earnings may prompt a flood of credit downgrades by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the regulatory body which imposes upon them risk-based capital charges.

Martin McKinney, senior manager of medium-term funding at Santander UK, speaks to GlobalCapital about the impact the UK’s lockdown on the bank’s balance sheet, central bank liquidity, and the bank’s changing mix of regulatory and pure funding.

LondonMetric Property, the UK real estate development company, has completed a £120m ($149m) capital raising to fund the acquisition of new properties as part of its pivot into urban logistics.

The economic devastation has made an absolute mockery of predicting corporate earnings and therefore, equity valuation. Companies have given up on providing forward guidance leaving equity investors in the strange position of having to pick stocks without the earnings estimates that they have come to depend upon. Undoubtedly, this makes their work harder but it will also mean they must add to their repertoire of techniques for analysing companies. Many will flounder but a few are bound to shine.

Prospects are rising of a return to normal merger and acquisition activity, despite the continued grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. Telefónica, the Spanish telecoms group, has confirmed it is in talks about combining its UK mobile business O2 with Virgin Media, the quad play telecoms firm owned by Liberty Global.

A group of veteran fund managers have launched a new boutique asset manager dedicated to responsible investing in emerging market equities.

QBE sold $500m of additional tier one debt in the dollar market this week, as it sought to shield itself from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK Municipal Bonds Agency has announced the two first councils that will take part in its pooled issuance scheme, although the bonds themselves may well not be issued before the summer.

Barclays topped off a record-breaking quarter for its markets division by tapping the dollar market for $1.75bn this week, amid red-hot funding conditions underpinned by soothing words from US Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell.

Lloyds Bank has got most of its covered bond and senior funding out of the way already this year — ideal, given the threat of the coronavirus pandemic to both bond markets and the wider economy. But the bank has also been busy optimising its capital stack, which should support its lending just when it is most needed.