UK

Nomura has reshaped the management team of its wholesale division, which includes investment banking and markets. Former co-head of wholesale Kentaro Okuda will become regional head for Americas, while Minoru Shinohara, executive chairman in EMEA, becomes co-head of wholesale, relocating from London to Tokyo.

NEX Group on Thursday launched an end-to-end reporting platform that will help clients navigate Europe's emerging regulatory landscape.

Ineos Styrolution this week completed a loan refinancing with margins well below the 350bp market average for new deals — but the pricing will be replicated by the leveraged market’s top credits, said market participants.

Countrywide, the UK estate agency group that owns Hamptons International and listings website Rightmove, raised £37.8m of new equity in an intraday sale on Thursday to strengthen its balance sheet after a drop in profits.

If it cannot find a buyer, the UK’s capital-strapped Co-operative Bank is considering raising fresh share capital and swapping any of its senior or subordinated bonds into equity. The firm also announced plans for a tier two sale in 2018 should the recapitalisation prove successful.

Ocelot Partners, a special purpose acquisition company founded by LionTree Partners, Andrew Barron and Martin Franklin, this week successfully completed its $425m IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

The UK Debt Management Office will have to tackle its lowest issuance volume since 2007 in the next financial year, although analysts warned that the longer-term picture for UK borrowing could be affected heavily by imminent negotiations over Brexit.

ABN Amro has tapped one of its senior floating rate notes in the sterling market on Wednesday, as cash bonds held steady in the currency despite the UK Budget and the government's intention to trigger Article 50 later in the month.

HSBC is understood to be considering transferring a banker from London to take over leveraged and acquisition finance responsibilities for Asia Pacific. This follows the departures of senior Hong Kong-based bankers from the levfin and sponsor coverage teams last month.

Neil Walker, non-executive director of LCH’s SA and Group boards, is standing down to pursue 'executive commitments' elsewhere.

Shares in Ascential, the UK events and publishing company that runs the Cannes Lions festival, closed 1.4% higher on Tuesday after Guardian Media Group (GMG) and Apax sold the last of their stock through an accelerated bookbuild led by Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), Deutsche Bank and Numis Securities.

Disability mobility provider Motability Operations Group (MOG) saw bulging order books for its €500m eight year and £350m 15 year trades on Tuesday.