UK

The London Stock Exchange is set to begin offering weekly options that will be based on the FTSE 100 stock index, in what it said is a first-of-its-kind launch in the UK listed derivatives market.

Barclays made a convincing start to its plan of reducing its stake in Barclays Africa on Wednesday night, with a successful block trade that netted $4bn of demand from what bankers on it said was a very high quality group of institutions.

Barclays and BNP Paribas became the first European banks to tap the Yankee market for subordinated paper for almost a month this week.

Centrica, the UK energy supply, trading and production company, raised £700m of new capital on Thursday to support its credit ratings with an intraday placement, but that was less than the £750m it set out to raise, and its share price fell 9.8%.

J.C. Rathbone Associates has acquired Canaccord Genuity's social housing and bond advisory business, which will be headed by Adrian Bell and Henrietta Podd, leaders of the Canadian's firm's UK debt business.

Abbey National may shortly return to the public senior market, after launching three cash tender offers in a bid to shift debt away from its operating company.

China’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) is set to issue its debut offshore renminbi (CNH) government bond in London as early as this month, with one Chinese bank and one foreign bank mandated on the deal.

Barclays has this evening executed a R13bn ($900m) accelerated bookbuild in shares of Barclays Africa Group, its separately listed South African subsidiary, as the first stage in its already announced plan to divest the bank. The trade was covered in 35 minutes and multiple times oversubscribed.

A managing director of loans execution will leave Barclays in London at the end of May.

Goldman Sachs has relocated one of its most senior M&A bankers from Hong Kong to London, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Latin American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) is expected to rake in a substantial order book for its first dollar benchmark in over a year, according to bankers close to the deal.

Chemicals producer Inovyn on Tuesday began the roadshow for a €300m secured bond that will replace a portion of term loan ‘B’ funding being issued to support its full takeover by Ineos.