UK

JP Morgan Chase has sold £59m of shares in BT Group, the UK telecommunications company, on behalf of former holders of BT’s American Depositary Receipts.

GSO Capital Partners, the credit unit of private equity firm Blackstone, has raised roughly $4.5bn for its second European direct lending fund, according to an SEC filing. But as the coronavirus pandemic wrecks corporate balance sheets, several sources are concerned with how European companies will fare.

The UK government’s offer on Friday to pay 80% of the wages of furloughed workers came in the nick of time to save thousands of jobs in manufacturing and services. But few of those affected realised they were benefiting from a German idea. The move highlights how the coronavirus crisis is causing a rapid dissemination of techniques around the world.

NMC Health’s $360m convertible bonds are trading at mere cents on the dollar, suggesting virtually no recovery value after the scandal-hit UAE hospitals group said on Tuesday it had discovered even more undisclosed debt.

The UK government’s decision to lock down the country on Monday night has increased talk that companies, retailers in particular, will soon need equity capital market funding. However, with market volatility still high, recapitalisations will have to be small, or they will have to wait.

BBC Commercial Holdings, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that produces and sells content to other broadcasters across the world, has decided to delay a £170m debt refinancing in the US private placement market, according to market sources, as bankers struggle to cope with price discovery.

Cuts made to senior staff in the debt markets are coming home to roost now that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are coming to bear on loans and private placements. Old hands that navigated the previous crises are in short supply as borrowers and investors look to implement deal amendments to cope with a coming recession.

The Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, has said it will not introduce a short selling ban, since there was no proof that short selling was responsible for the recent market falls.

Institutional investors in the US private placement market are preparing for a round of covenant waivers, as companies brace for the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Bankers in turn are shelving primary issuance plans and turning their attention to winning amendment mandates.

Equity market participants have welcomed the Financial Conduct Authority's call to UK companies to hold off on publishing preliminary financial statements.

The UK Debt Management Office will boost the size of its Gilt issuance programme for its upcoming financial year by up to an additional £45bn in response to the UK’s fiscal package to counter the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a head of UK rates strategy.

The Bank of England said on Friday morning that UK banks should not treat coronavirus-impacted exposures as impaired assets under IFRS 9 accounting standards, as it unveiled new guidance around the impact of the pandemic.