MTN Leak

Something large is taking over the UBS MTNs desk, blocking out the sunlight and casting the team into shadow. Paul Jones and Vincenzo Botta are slowly being shunted off their desks by what may well be colleague David Morland’s dreams of becoming a cinema proprietor.

Leak isn’t sure quite what has got into you lot lately. Every week, more dealers are leaping on to the keep-fit bandwagon. MTN desks must be starting to look like Muscle Beach.

Deutsche Bank’s Filippo Ginanni has returned home from Kenya in triumph, having completed his stumble — sorry, rumble — in the jungle in an epic performance. He got round the 13.1 mile course in the Lewa Wildlife Park in the impressive time of one hour and 57 minutes.

MTN bankers cosied up to their clients this week at the annual Euromoney Global Borrowers conference in the Hyde Park Hilton — quite literally in some cases. Several desks held their meetings in hotel bedrooms — the scandal!

Let it never be said that MTN dealers are risk averse and dodge pain. As Leak can chronicle in this very column, MTN dealers are prepared to endure things even more excruciating than waiting hours for some clueless DCM halfwit to come back with a level for a $2m range accrual to get what they want.

We suspect Filippo Ginanni might be regretting his multi-course barbecue of a couple of weeks back. For Deutsche Bank’s favourite gourmand is about to take part in an activity where he would wish to be as light as possible.

Leak loves a bit of social media, and to help out a pal, we have decided to be online estate agents this week. UBS’s favourite Italian is looking to make the move west so here is our advert for him:

After last week’s awards dinner, Leak has one more special MTNs award to announce. And it goes to none other than BNP Paribas’s Smit Acharya. Not content with picking up a gong at the dinner, he also managed to get himself into more photos of the evening than anyone else there.

Leak was very happy to catch up with so many friendly faces at EuroWeek’s bonds awards dinner at the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday night. Many congratulations to all the winners, and commiserations to those who missed out.

The MTN market is gearing up for the competition of a lifetime, and Leak hears that Commerzbank has an early competitive lead. No, Leak isn’t talking about our bond awards next week, but Eurovision. Andrew Nicola is way out in the lead, having secured a ticket to see the semi-finals this week.

Just weeks after MarathonGate, Crédit Agricole’s desk is reeling from a new rift.

Henry Coyle has only been at Royal Bank of Scotland a few days but is already causing mystery about town. He was spotted swanning about the City having obviously spent a large amount of his gardening leave sun worshipping. So much time in fact, that people are having trouble recognising him.