UK

James Marriott is joining Wells Fargo in a senior debt capital markets role this autumn after he resigned from NatWest Markets, where he was head of DCM and advisory for financial institutions and sovereigns, supranationals and agencies.

Swiss Re sold a 6.6% stake in UK insurance services company Phoenix Group on Tuesday, raising £437m for the seller.

This week, Spanish refrigerated trucking company Primafrio and Russian goldminer Nordgold postponed their respective IPOs, on the Spanish and London Stock Exchanges in hopes of better market conditions in the future. These delays are just the latest casualties of Europe’s turbulent IPO market.

The European initial public offering market has been difficult for months, but new listings are still being brought to market with little regard for whether investors want to buy them. Instead of trying to ram deals through to satisfy a pre-arranged timeline, banks should be advising their clients to delay listings that don’t work in these conditions.

There is general agreement that the UK’s recently won ability to diverge from EU capital markets regulations represents an opportunity to create a more attractive environment for doing business in London — and everyone seems to have their own shopping list of reforms they would like to see.

Baltics Classified Group, the online classified advertising company focused on the Baltic region, has opened the books on its £238m IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

Speaking at a keynote interview on Tuesday at the Global Borrowers and Bond Investors Forum 2021, Sir Robert Stheeman, chief executive of the UK Debt Management Office, said that the strong and sustainable demand in the green bond market has given him confidence as the UK prepares to build out a green Gilt curve.

UK speciality fibres and plastics maker Essentra has launched a private placement in what is the second deal from a listed UK corporate to hit the market in a matter of weeks. Market sources say more corporates, including some utilities, are set to return to the instrument after a dry spell since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Barclays has appointed Anita Tanna as managing director and head of EMEA generalist and specialist cash sales in London, having hired her from Citi.

HSBC Asset Management has hired an emerging markets debt portfolio manager from APG Asset Management.

Anglian Water has announced its intention to issue a fresh private placement under a new financing structure. Utilities, once stalwarts of the market, have been few and far between in the last 18 months as PPs have struggled to compete with public bonds on price.

HSBC is installing a pair of senior bankers to oversee its recently created capital financing and investment banking coverage (CFIBC) unit — Adam Bagshaw, who was hired from Deutsche Bank last year, and Matthew Ginsburg, who joins from Fitch Ratings.