UK

The Bank of England will steer banks and insurers to think seriously about climate change. This is great news in itself. But what will count is how far the Bank is willing to push them.

UK power company Drax has signed bridge financing for a £702m acquisition of assets from Iberdrola, as the Spanish company shifts away from traditional energy sources.

Heylo, a UK property company that specialises in shared ownership residential properties, launched the first bond off its new corporate bond programme last week. The bonds, which will be priced on or before October 22, offer investors inflation protection over the 10 years of the bond’s life.

Kazatomprom, the Kazakh company that is one of the world's largest producers of natural uranium, is seeking an IPO in London and potentially Astana, the first of a number of expected sales by the state.

British drinks manufacturer Diageo sold its largest euro corporate bond deal to date on Monday, when it sold a €2bn triple tranche deal. The proceeds are expected to be used to fund the share buy-back programme the company announced earlier in 2018.

The Bank of England announced on Monday a consultation on a package of measures to tighten its scrutiny of banks’ and other financial firms’ readiness for climate change. The Bank’s approach is gradualist, but it is signalling clearly that firms must take the financial risks from climate change seriously, and that regulation in this area will be ramped up.

Irish boutique investment bank Rubicon Infrastructure Advisors has hired two bankers with over 40 years of experience to expand its business into the UK.

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US private placement (US PP) investors hailing from the United States are ramping up competition for sterling PP deals, as swap costs dwindle and key comparables in US markets tempt those buyers across the pond. Silas Brown reports.

The UK Debut Management Office is planning to issue an inflation linked syndication early next year, after completing its conventional syndicated programme this week with a reopener of its 2071 Gilt.

Tucked away at the end of a press release, the Bank of England announced this week that it would delay a stress test for financial institutions. A messy departure from the EU could test the banks in real life instead.

Global fintech M&A has surged by more than a quarter year-on-year by value, as consolidation grips the upper echelons of the market and lenders prepare for a swathe of financing requests. Michael Turner reports.