UK

There has been no covered message sent on the IPO of Finablr, the financial holding company which owns Travelex, though the deal is set to close today, Monday May 13. The banks are still working hard to close the book on schedule.

The World Bank printed its second Sonia linked note on Wednesday as part of efforts to build its Sonia curve. The supranational has now sold over £2.5bn of Sonia paper across two benchmark bonds since September 2018.

Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group kept the sterling covered bond market busy this week with Sonia-linked trades that drew strong demand and were priced with no new issue premium.

Lloyds Bank found good demand for its third visit to the sterling covered bond market in the last eight months and the largest Sonia linked bond of that type issued this year. Attractive relative value and a prospective supply slowdown propelled demand, enabling the deal to be priced flat to fair value.

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The Co-operative Group, the UK food retailer and provider of funeral, legal and insurance services, launched its first sustainable bond on Wednesday and achieved impressive demand. But that had little to do with its ethical characteristics.

Co-operative Group returned to the sterling market on Wednesday with its first senior deal since 2011 and was set to price an increased transaction at the tight end of guidance.

Barclays Bank kept the primary covered bond market alive on Wednesday, launching its first deal of the year and its first Sonia-linked transaction — though at £500m it was the bank’s smallest covered bond yet.

Sir Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England, this week outlined the risks the UK will face once it breaks from the European Union. Foremost is the uncertainty of the relationship after the divorce.

The UK Debt Management Office has chosen the tenor for the first syndication of its 2019/20 financial year, which is expected to come in the week commencing May 13.

Santander UK, Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt (Spabol) and Erste Group were able to price flat or through their covered bond curves on Tuesday after stoking up hefty demand for their new issues.

Equity capital markets bankers are pitching aggressively for any new business they can get, often disregarding issuer region or the size of the deal, to make up for the dearth of supply so far in 2019.