UK

UK property group Hammerson came to the corporate bond market on Tuesday with a €500m offering, as deal flow hit a more subdued tone ahead of the European Central Bank’s Thursday meeting.

The Bank of England has printed $2bn of three year paper from a heavily oversubscribed book, as fears of a UK exit from the European Union showed no impact on the central bank’s bonds.

Metro Bank, the UK challenger bank, started trading on the London Stock Exchange on Monday morning, having raised £400m privately rather than from a public offering of shares.

Capital & Regional, the UK real estate investment trust (REIT), looks set to refinance its £380m credit facility later this year.

UK metering services company, Smart Metering Systems (SMS) has signed a £150m club loan and increased the deal size to take advantage of a government scheme to boost smart meter installation.

Four banks from four jurisdictions got the FIG market off to a frantic start on Monday, and bankers think many more borrowers could hit screens before the European Central Bank meets on Thursday.

Barclays' new chief executive is looking for a lot of leeway from shareholders. Selling off a profitable part of the business to double down on a less profitable line is a bold call. The market can't be this bad forever, but don't expect the dividend back any time soon.

The UK’s Prudential Regulatory Authority and Financial Conduct Authority have rejected calls from the European Banking Authority to apply the bonus cap to all firms regulated under the Capital Requirements Directive.

Intercontinental Exchange’s assertion this week that it is mulling an offer for the London Stock Exchange Group, along with rumours of rival interest from CME, has ushered in a ‘phoney war’ with main suitor Deutsche Börse, say market participants — but the ensuing battle makes the future of LSE’s clearing business far from certain.

The UK’s largest banks are still using tweaks to capital models to flatter their capital ratios, a practice which regulators plan to discourage in the months ahead.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) on Thursday joined the surge of blockbuster multi-tranche deals that has hit the euro bond market since mid-February as it raised €3.9bn of bonds across three tranches.

Banks are making their commitments for ED&F Man's annual loan refinancing and no banks have declined to roll over their commitments yet, according to a lead banker.