UK

Shares in RBS rose 3.5% on Friday morning after the UK bank unveiled its first dividend since it was rescued during the financial crisis, paving the way for more share sales by the UK government once the lockup from the last trade comes off in September.

Swiss Re is considering a sale of its closed book life business ReAssure, possibly in 2019, in order to raise capital to buy more polices, a deal which could be worth over £875m.

Aviva has opened a £14m ($18.25m) goodwill payment programme for investors who lost money by selling its preference shares after it said it could cancel the securities at par.

UK estate agent Countrywide has turned to the equity capital markets to resolve its debt issues and has initiated a share sale to raise £129m as part of its “Absolute Growth Plan” to turn its fortunes around.

The woes surrounding House of Fraser, the distressed UK department store chain, mounted this week, when C.banner International, a Chinese retailer, withdrew from talks to buy a majority stake. But the business said it will complete its company voluntary arrangement (CVA) and find new investors.

National Grid, the UK-based electricity and gas transmission group, has become the third issuer this week to print a benchmark corporate bond in euros, taking total volume to €4.25bn in just two days, at a time of year that many in the past have regarded as the start of the summer slowdown.

Aviva has opened a goodwill payment programme for investors who lost money by selling its preference shares after it said it could cancel the securities at par. This follows anger among many holders of the asset class over that announcement.

A financial institutions debt capital markets banker at Lloyds Bank is moving over to the syndicate desk.

Mark Corben, who has been chief financial officer at Tideway, the private company building the super-sewer under the Thames in London and the UK's biggest green bond issuer, is leaving.

Grit Real Estate Income Group, the pan-African real estate company based in Mauritius, has raised $132.1m through the sale of 92.4m shares in a placing to investors, prior to listing in London on Tuesday.

The UK ECM market is having a good summer, with several large transactions and important deals executed, despite much of the market being shuttered up for the holiday season.

Nationwide Building Society paid a slim premium for $1bn of non-preferred senior bonds in callable format this week, as bankers tipped the dollar market as being open for business this summer.