UK

The UK’s insurance industry could be co-opted to help some of the most vulnerable countries on earth, if a plan for foreign aid bonds gets off the ground. The instruments could also help London in its quest to become a centre for catastrophe bonds, a project announced in last year’s UK budget.

International Public Partnerships, the UK investment firm dedicated to financing public infrastructure projects, has completed its £125m capital increase on the London Stock Exchange.

Shares in AA, the UK breakdown assistance operator, fell by as much as 6% on Thursday after Invesco sold its 13% stake via an accelerated bookbuild which began on Wednesday evening.

The proposed merger of the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse looks set to allow Frankfurt to prise euro swaps clearing away from London, amid rising expectations that regulators will require the combined entity to move euro business back within the eurozone.

Big moves in credit, equity and foreign exchange markets this week were magnified by mass unwinding of previously popular trades as investors capitulated to a reversal of fortunes for Japan and European banks.

nanoFlowcell, a European tech firm focussed on energy-storage solutions and electric cars, is considering listing on the London Stock Exchange, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Lenders are still keen to underwrite sterling loans after the UK’s Brexit vote — as shown in Steinhoff’s £452m deal — said one head of Emea loan syndicate.

South Africa's Steinhoff has agreed to buy UK discount retailer Poundland in a £597m deal, with Crédit Agricole one of two banks underwriting the loan financing. The French bank also benefited from Steinhoff’s thwarted bid for Darty earlier this year, when it co-underwrote a facility for rival bidder Fnac.

Commerzbank has merged its high yield and leveraged loan teams, appointing the former HY head to lead the new unit and leaving the former levloan head without a position at the bank.

Financial centres come and go, but they're mostly very resilient. London's been near the top of its game since the Napoleonic Wars. Will it take Brexit in its stride?

The latest $1.25bn underwritten loan for the UK’s Melrose may look like a Brexit-defying success. But in reality, the firm is a lender’s darling and this doesn’t necessarily mean the gates are open wide for all UK loans.

Data firms IHS and Markit completed their merger on Tuesday, after shareholders agreed terms for a deal worth $13bn in which bond, loan and derivative services are key areas of focus.