UK

The IPO of Bridgepoint Group was set on Monday to be priced at the top of its range — a boon for Europe’s equity capital markets ahead of an expected dip in activity over the summer.

Round Hill Music Royalty Fund, the London-listed investment trust focused on music catalogues, has wrapped up an $86.5m share sale, as the asset class continues to draw in investors.

Learning Technologies Group (LTG), the e-learning and training provider, has completed a 44.3m share sale to part fund its acquisition of GP Strategies.

As Western companies operating in Hong Kong await the details of a warning from the US State Department about the risks of doing business in the special administrative region, analysts say the growing rift between China and the US is putting HSBC in an especially uncomfortable position.

NatWest Markets has hired UK rates trader James Bucknall from Deutsche Bank, where he was head of sterling trading.

Limited partners in private credit take a hands-off approach when investing in direct lending funds. But they need to pay attention.

Direct lending funds are known for protecting their investments with leverage covenants, but the investors in these funds — known as limited partners (LPs) — may be overestimating how much protection they give, market sources warned this week. Silas Brown reports.

The Financial Conduct Authority has helped to put the UK at the forefront of financial innovation with its pioneering regulatory sandbox programme. While it has inspired similar schemes in various jurisdictions, its next big challenge is to implement this concept across borders.

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Bridgepoint Group, the UK private equity firm, has officially opened books on its London IPO. It has had a strong start, receiving huge demand from investors during the investor education process.

The success of Wise’s direct listing can be chalked up as a victory for a UK stock market that has undergone much soul searching about its ability to attract the hot companies of the future.

The UK impressed onlookers with its sale of the second syndicated conventional Gilt of its 2021/22 financial year on Tuesday.