UK Sovereign

The UK Municipal Bonds Agency (MBA) has picked banks for its second trip to market, eyeing the ultra-long end and once again raising cash on behalf of Lancashire County Council. Although the bond will be in conventional format, the MBA is looking to issue green bonds in the future.

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, has announced that negative rates are “part of the toolbox” but that he sees no reason to make use of them yet.

The UK Debt Management Office has chosen the maturities and issuance windows for its two planned syndications in September. One of the syndications will be a new 15 year Gilt, which divided opinion among investors at a consultation last week.

At a consultation on Monday, Gilt-Edged Market Makers and investors were divided on the UK’s proposal for a new 15 year Gilt to be sold through syndication in September.

Agreement in the EU this week on a €750bn recovery fund should remind market participants of the UK’s newfound vulnerability.

The UK Debt Management Office intends to sell a new 15 year Gilt via syndication in early September for which it will seek feedback through a consultation with Gilt market participants next week.

Each week, Keeping Tabs brings you the very best of what we have found most useful, interesting and informative from around the web. This week: what’s next for the US after its war on Huawei, the impact that more robots would have on the gender pay gap, and a look on the bright side of Europe’s mishmash of state guarantee schemes.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress European sovereigns have made in their funding programmes in mid-July.

The UK Debt Management Office outlined its borrowing plan for the period of September through to the end of November on Thursday, announcing that it plans to issue a minimum of two syndicated Gilts and 38 auctions during the period as its funding needs soar to unprecedented levels as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, has already thrown some cash from the air to boost the economy and prevent a more serious downturn, with job retention measures, a cut in VAT and meal vouchers. But that won’t be enough. The UK needs a full scale helicopter drop.

The UK is in many ways a green leader. Starting to issue green Gilts would be peripheral to that, and not necessary to environmental progress. But for a country that desperately needs to buff up its image, it is low-hanging fruit.

The UK Debt Management Office (DMO) has updated its remit to include an additional £50bn of borrowing by the end of August. However, investors had expected details of the sovereign’s borrowing ambitions up to the end of September.