UK

Since the August 4 announcement that the Bank of England will purchase corporate bonds again, much chin stroking has occurred about the differences between the Bank’s approach and that of the European Central Bank. In at least one respect, though, the BoE's scheme seems superior.

The London Metals Exchange plans to offer a range of exchange traded and centrally cleared precious metal products, starting with gold and silver spot and futures contracts.

Tullett Prebon has teamed up with GMEX Group to launch a hybrid voice and electronic trading platform for foreign exchange options.

BP Capital Markets slotted into August’s smooth run of corporate sterling bond issuance on Tuesday, as it issued a benchmark seven year transaction that was priced inside its euro curve.

The share price of Melrose, the UK industrial buyouts specialist, leapt as much as 16% on Monday after the company said the window shop period of its acquisition of Nortek had expired, allowing the deal and Melrose’s jumbo £1.6bn rights issue to proceed.

BMW tapped into the increasing pace of corporate sterling bond issuance as it issued a benchmark six year offering against the backdrop of anticipated central bank intervention in the market.

BNP Paribas and HSBC followed Barclays into the sterling market on Monday, revealing opportunities in the currency following last week’s Bank of England meeting as spreads grind tighter and book sizes grow.

Royal Bank of Scotland has abandoned plans to float Williams & Glyn, the subsidiary it must sell by the end of 2017, after it announced a worse-than-expected loss of £2bn in the first half of 2016.

Vodafone continued to throw primary supply at European corporate bond markets on Friday, printing its third bond in two weeks as it issued a £1bn 40 year deal.

Barclays raised its first sterling senior debt from its holding company on Friday, taking advantage of a spread rally to round off a big push for holdco this week.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s plans to return to profitability have taken another blow after the bank posted a worse than expected £2bn first half loss on Friday morning, which it blamed on mounting legal costs.

The Singapore Exchange is going ahead with its plan to acquire London-based Baltic Exchange for £77.6m ($101.7m), half a year after submitting a non-binding bid for the shipping bourse.