UK

Pemberton — Cocobod — Tunisie — Ahli Bank

Preparing for MiFID II regulations will cost market participants over $2bn in 2017 in IT bills, a study by IHS Markit and Expand has found.

Five high yield issuers looked to tap into improving sentiment in the corporate sterling market this week, as the Bank of England let rip its corporate bond purchase scheme (CBPS) on Tuesday.

The sterling market's strength was on full display this week, with £1.1bn in new investment grade deals heading into investor pockets — a good sign that supply may be able to replace the BoE’s intended £10bn in purchases.

UK mortgage broker Jerrold Holdings and UK distressed consumer credit purchaser Cabot Financial both priced their respective £375m and £350m bonds on Thursday, with one banker saying the sterling market feels strong.

Two more sterling benchmarks from investment grade corporates hit the market on Thursday, extending a strong week for bonds in the currency.

HSBC launched $3.75bn of senior bonds from its holding company this week, taking advantage of more stable market conditions to top TLAC issuance up to $30bn this year alone.

The London Stock Exchange this week moved to deflect a mounting list of European Commission concerns about its proposed merger with Deutsche Börse by saying it would consider selling off its LCH SA French clearing business.

BASF SE was on Wednesday set to become the first sterling issuer into the primary market with an outstanding bond that is already eligible for purchase under the Bank of England’s Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme, which kicked off on Tuesday.

Phoenix Group Holdings, the UK life insurer and asset manager, will carry out a £735m rights issue to partly finance its takeover of Abbey Life, which it announced on Wednesday morning, causing its share price to rise by 3.6%.

UK asset manager Pemberton launched a £500m mid-market all-sterling direct lending fund this week, with one market participant arguing that opportunities in the space will expand because European banks are “the worst pricers of credit” in the market.

Shareholders of the Baltic Exchange have approved the firm’s takeover by the Singapore Exchange.