UK

Clients of bank index platforms are adapting to a new investment climate, increasingly opting for more defensive strategies and specifically positioning for volatility spikes similar to the ones markets experienced in early February.

Bayer’s €5bn four-tranche corporate bond offering on Tuesday not only cleared the way for other issuers to approach the market, but the €22.5bn of demand gave four issuers the confidence to sell a variety of deals in Europe on Wednesday. €3.5bn was issued in the euro market and £1bn in sterling.

UK financial services advocacy group TheCityUK on Wednesday called for the continuity of cross-border derivatives contracts to be guaranteed after the UK leaves the EU.

HSS Hire Group, the recovering UK tool hire company, has signed £245m of loans, as the clamour for sterling debt shows little sign of abating amid a bumper second quarter for loans in the currency.

Amigo Holdings, the UK guarantor consumer lender, has set the range on its London IPO, valuing it at between £1.1bn and £1.4bn.

International Game Technology is readying its comeback to bond issuance, seeking funding for a partial tender offer for two 2020 euro notes. Europe’s primary high yield market was back in action, too, but investors warn renewed talk of trade war between the US and China could disrupt the market.

Investec Asset Management has hired Juliet Lim as a senior investment specialist for its emerging market fixed income team in London.

Terms have been set on the £1bn rights issue of DS Smith, the UK packaging company, to fund its acquisition of Spanish rival Europac.

The Bank of England has released a new working paper on the impact of the leverage ratio for derivatives, arguing that the ratio had a “disincentivising effect” on client clearing for the period evaluated, confirming the views of many industry participants.

ASA International, a microfinance institution backed by private equity firm Sequoia Amsterdam, is seeking to become Europe’s first publicly listed microfinance company, through a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Despite worries that Russian investors are pulling away from London as the UK looks to pressure allies of the country's president Vladimir Putin, Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, this week told GlobalCapital that preserving the rule of law in the UK and making sure markets are “clean and honest” is more important than attracting Russian capital to London.

CYBG has agreed to buy Virgin Money for £1.7bn, paving the way for a new major challenger bank on the UK high street. The combined bank will be strong in mortgages but have only £7.6bn of corporate and SME loans.