UK

Nationwide Building Society priced the tightest UK covered bond this year on Wednesday and still managed to issue in a good size. The deal was well timed to take advantage of recent spread tightening with little hint of investor hesitation, even though Brexit concerns are set to mount.

Trainline, the UK transport booking website, is preparing to launch an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. The deal is expected to value the company at around £1.5bn, according to a source close to matter.

UK retailer Marks & Spencer has set the terms on its fully underwritten £601m rights issue with shareholders already understood to be supportive of the deal, despite the risk hanging over the UK.

Lloyds is yet to confirm whether it will redeem an outstanding additional tier one (AT1) deal, callable on June 27, just as banking authorities have increased the pressure on financial institutions to justify their decisions to call such debt.

Investors are calling on the UK to issue green bonds. Should it? There is little doubt markets would like them — but the important question is, would the public?

Watches of Switzerland, the UK's largest retailer of luxury watches, set the terms for its flotation on the London Stock Exchange after what were productive price discussions with investors, according to a source close to the deal.

NatWest Markets and Crédit Agricole both came to the market on Monday with supply from the safest end of the capital stack. Both deals were heavily subscribed in the face of trade war tensions and uncertainty over Brexit.

Metro Bank completed its long awaited equity capital raise on Thursday night, providing a rare bit of good news to UK bankers and investors despondent over a tortuous Brexit process.

Thursday’s corporate bond new issue action in Europe confirmed the picture presented on Wednesday: that investors were determined not to let macroeconomic issues bother them, and were piling into new issues. The day was less blemished than the previous one had been by volatility, enabling issuers to get some very tight spreads.

Rating: Aa2/AA/AA

Gilts are profiting from safe-haven flows, said Robert Stheeman, chief executive of the UK Debt Management Office (DMO), which, this week, sold its first syndicated note of the 2019/20 funding year — a 6.5 times subscribed issue.

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