IFR parent LSEG raises US$3bn in first dollar bond in two years
London Stock Exchange Group returned to the US investment-grade market on Monday with a US$3bn bond – its first in two years – as the A3/A rated financial markets infrastructure and data provider sought to refinance debt in what has been one of the busiest months ever for the asset class.
Unaudited firms affiliated to collapsed lender MFS complicate recovery
At least two entities affiliated with the failed bridge loan provider Market Financial Solutions were not audited, according to a source close to the situation, further complicating debt recovery at the London-based lender, which is alleged to have double pledged a large portion of its over £2bn in loans.
Rupak Ghose
Investment banks continue to expect strong first-quarter revenues. On Tuesday, Citigroup guided to mid-teens year-on-year growth in investment banking and markets revenues, and Bank of America guided to double-digit growth for both business lines. A few weeks ago, JP Morgan provided a similar upbeat message.
UniCredit plans to launch a low-ball takeover offer for Commerzbank, the German lender in which it has built a stake of just below 30% , with no expectation of achieving full control.
At least two entities affiliated with the failed bridge loan provider Market Financial Solutions were not audited, according to a source close to the situation, further complicating debt recovery at the London-based lender, which is alleged to have double pledged a large portion of its over £2bn in loans.
Australian Commonwealth government bonds are mixed on the day, after the Reserve Bank of Australia, as generally expected, raised the official cash rate by 25bp to 4.1%, while casting doubts about a quick, follow-through increase in May.
Thames Water’s main creditor group has amended the terms of its offer to take over the troubled utility, offering to provide significantly more new debt, of up to £6.55bn, up from £2.25bn previously, and an additional £200m of new equity for a total of £3.35bn.
London Stock Exchange Group returned to the US investment-grade market on Monday with a US$3bn bond – its first in two years – as the A3/A rated financial markets infrastructure and data provider sought to refinance debt in what has been one of the busiest months ever for the asset class.
Jaguar Land Rover Automotive has postponed a plan to raise a US dollar three and five-year bond due to the market's volatility.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group accessed the Yankee covered market for the first time since June 2023 with a bumper US$2.25bn short five-year sale on Monday.
Canadian issuers continued to breathe life into the FIG space on Monday as Bank of Montreal revived euro senior unsecured bank supply with a €1.25bn two-part offering, split across three-year non-call two floating-rate and six-year non-call five green fixed-to-floating tranches.
The US asset-backed primary is pushing ahead as funding conditions remain favorable despite ongoing volatility driven by the war between Iran and the US and Israel.
Two specialist UK mortgage lenders, Enra and Paratus AMC, have reopened the RMBS market following volatility from the war in Iran causing a hiatus.
Switch and MetroNet returned to the US asset-backed primary market last week as digital infrastructure funding surges across credit markets.
The US-Israeli war with Iran is putting the spotlight on the aviation ABS sector, prompted by concerns about rising fuel costs and air traffic in the Middle East region.
The World Bank is reshaping Southern African public finance with two key initiatives in the region, a refinement of its debt-for-development swap instrument in Angola and a credit guarantee vehicle in South Africa.
The UK’s strategy for its pioneering retail sovereign green bonds – a world-first at launch back in 2021 – has become even more uncertain with Tuesday’s launch of the first new green Gilt to incorporate a retail offer .
Amundi's sustainability profile is helping to win more institutional mandates as asset owners seek to manage climate-related risks and their transition exposure.
Healthpeak Properties launched marketing early Monday for the US$740m NYSE IPO of senior housing-property affiliate Janus Living, with nearly half the deal spoken for by cornerstone investors.
Nasdaq-listed online travel company MakeMyTrip said it is evaluating an Indian listing.
After winning a development contract from the US government, Guardian Metal Resources is taking the logical next step of listing in the US via an NYSE American listing that will be accompanied by a roughly US$50m raise.
Walmart-backed Indian digital payments company PhonePe on Monday deferred its planned IPO because of market volatility caused by the war in the Middle East.
Reliance Industries-owned Jio Platforms plans to files for an IPO as early as the end of this month after the Indian government formally approved revised free-float rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, paving the way for large IPOs, people with knowledge of the transaction said.
The debt package backing the US$55bn leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts is expected to be marketed at wider levels than initially anticipated, as volatility triggered by the escalating Middle East war ripples through credit markets.
US leveraged loan lenders are taking a slow walk down Wall Street after loan prices dropped to an 11-month low, with the asset class contending with the aftermath of US and Israeli air strikes on Iran – adding to an already volatile market that has also faced questions about the viability of some technology companies and rising concerns about private credit lenders.
SoftBank Group is once again pushing the boundaries of the loan market in Asia Pacific with a mammoth financing of up to US$40bn to fund a new investment in OpenAI, in what could become the second-largest bridge facility from the region.
Drawing a Blank
→On behalf of all financial journalists, Bellwether is grateful for John Arlidge of The Times and The Sunday Times for setting the record straight about his 2009 interview with then-Goldman boss Lloyd Blankfein in which the latter talked about “doing God’s work” – a tin-eared phrase that helped make the bank a lightning rod for criticism following the financial crisis.
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Read the latest stories from the magazine IFR 2624 - 14 Mar 2026 - 20 Mar 2026
14 Mar 2026 - 20 Mar 2026
Investment banks continue to expect strong first-quarter revenues. On Tuesday, Citigroup guided to mid-teens year-on-year growth in investment banking and markets revenues, and Bank of America guided to double-digit growth for both business lines. A few weeks ago, JP Morgan provided a similar upbeat message.
A dramatic but little appreciated rise in the volume of equity total return swaps is being accompanied by an erosion in the margins charged by bank prime finance desks to clients such as hedge funds.
The collapse of Market Financial Solutions follows a familiar and concerning pattern. According to documents submitted to London’s High Court at the commencement of its administration process, MFS may have double-pledged assets, potentially leaving a collateral shortfall of £930m. Loans to MFS totalled £1.16bn, and there was only £230m of “true value” available in the collateral accounts.
It is unbecoming to say “I told you so”, but when it comes to Meta Platforms’ US$27.3bn project bond to fund its Hyperion data centre via private credit shop Blue Owl Capital (and SPV Beignet Investor) the temptation is strong. I wrote in late 2025 that Meta’s decision not to consolidate the debt on its balance sheet sits uneasily with the economic risk that investors have assumed they are taking when they bought the deal in October. And now Meta’s auditor, EY, clearly feels this same tension.
Full-year earnings from European banks – Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and UBS – showed them broadly holding market share in the markets’ business, but struggling to capitalise on the upswing in investment banking.