UK

The UK Debt Management Office has selected its syndicate and announced the maturity for its upcoming index-linked syndication.

The bounce in international equities since the election of Donald Trump as US president has led, as widely expected by market participants, to a wave of block trades this week, some of which were covered very quickly.

We noted last month that realised volatility in the European investment grade CDS market, as measured by the Markit VolX index, was at its lowest for two years. By the end of October, volatility had dipped to 18%, which was the lowest level since the heady days of June 2007. A number of future events were mooted that had the potential to trigger market uncertainty, including next month’s Italian referendum.

Primary bond markets have a new code of practice, released as part of the legacy of the Fair and Effective Markets Review. The draft standard, released on Friday morning, is supposed to apply to issuers, investors and underwriting banks in the wholesale fixed income markets in Europe, and, unlike other practice guidelines, applies across investment grade, high yield, securitization and emerging markets.

The UK’s chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is expected to announce a "fiscal reset" when he delivers his autumn statement on November 23 that could include financing plans to pay for infrastructure investment.

The ferocious onslaught of block issuance is continuing tonight, with four vendors out in the market, led by the Dutch government, which has begun the next phase of privatising ABN Amro by selling 65m shares, a 7% stake, worth €1.36bn.

Civitas Social Housing, the UK real estate investment trust, has completed its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, having offered investors the first ever pure play on a social housing Reit.

Tullett Prebon has obtained approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority for its proposed acquisition of rival interdealer broker ICAP’s global hybrid voice broking and information businesses.

The Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF) scheme continues to attract interest from mainland retail investors nearly a year after its launch. However, it is being stifled by poor distribution efforts, scarcity of eligible funds, as well as foreign fund manager uncertainty about what is the best route into China.

D2 Legal Technology, an independent financial services legal data and technology consulting firm, has appointed a chief operating officer.

The UK Debt Management Office is looking to hit the 40 year area of the curve with its next syndicated issue, which will be an inflation-linked Gilt.

Greencore Group, the Irish convenience food supplier, has announced plans for a £439m rights issue to partly finance its takeover of Peacock Foods, a US competitor, alongside its preliminary full year results on Monday.