UK

The UK Debt Management Office has chosen the tenor for the final syndication of its 2018-2019 financial year, as Gilt yields rallied this week amid confusion over how the UK will eventually leave the European Union.

Cinema operator Vue International cancelled its £833m-equivalent leveraged loan offering amid increasing investor aversion to sterling risk, as the UK government and Parliament descended into a full-blown clash over the conditions for separation from the European Union.

Investment grade loans bankers are still looking to thrash out up to 10 deals before Christmas, with two transactions in syndication now making up €7bn of business.

The breakdown of trust in ISDAfix following allegations of collusion and manipulation in 2012 led to a complete overhaul of the benchmark. A recent report by the Financial Conduct Authority proves that the hard work is paying off, reaffirming the potential for the model to be applied to other benchmarks.

Mizuho International, the London securities and investment banking arm of the Japanese banking group, has cut jobs in its capital markets business over the past week, and among those leaving is a senior DCM banker.

Moody’s has slapped a negative outlook on the UK’s GlaxoSmithKline, after the pharmaceuticals company said it planned a debt funded $5.1bn deal for US oncology company Tesaro.

Sterling investors poured into the UK Gilt market on Tuesday after Theresa May’s Brexit plans received multiple defeats in parliament. They will "remain cautious" ahead of the crunch vote on the Brexit deal on December 11, according to buy-side analysts.

Widening spreads for UK financial firms have opened up attractive opportunities for investors comfortable with the underlying resilience of the sector. Despite the risks that Brexit and competition from new sources pose, there were no failures in the Bank of England's stress test last week.

The European Union has taken a step towards using the bank capital risk weighting system to favour green assets and discourage ‘brown’ unsustainable lending — one of the most controversial issues on the sustainable finance policy agenda.

S4 Capital, the digital advertising and marketing services company created by Martin Sorrell, the former CEO of WPP, has agreed the terms of its second acquisition and is partly financing the deal through a £74m placing and open offer on the London Stock Exchange.

Utility Thames Water has a signed a £1.4bn sustainability-linked revolving credit facility that its coordinators say is the first to be linked to an asset-specific Infrastructure GRESB rating.

The Council of the European Union has approved its final version of a controversial legislative proposal that seeks to overhaul the bloc’s oversight of clearing houses.