Banks

The Bank of England (BoE) delivered a widely expected 25bp cut on Thursday, taking interest rates to a two-year low of 4%. But the real story was in the balance of views on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which for the first time in its 28-year history had to conduct two rounds of voting and has forced markets to reassess the path of future rate cuts.

Over the last week or so, the major UK banks have been reporting results for the first six months of 2025. Considering the noise around the UK’s fiscal situation and some softening in broader macroeconomic conditions, these releases offer another valuable data point for analysing the health of the UK economy and the operating environment of UK banks.

Last Friday, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its semi-annual Risk Assessment Report. It is always a good read, as it provides a summary of trends in the banking sector and highlights risks that might be emerging in parts of the banking system.

The latest Labour Market Overview published by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday morning has raised eyebrows, with some metrics seemingly having deteriorated quite rapidly versus last month.

The European Central Bank (ECB) will be alone this week in delivering its latest monetary policy decision, with the next Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan meetings not until the week commencing June 16.

European banks are coming to the end of the Q1 2025 reporting season, and on the surface there are multiple headwinds to contend with.

Last week was one of the most volatile on record. President Trump's announcement of a 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs for every country bar China sparked one of the largest rallies in equity indices in recent history.

With the market focus over the last week or so being firmly on equities and credit spreads, it is worth zooming in on developments in the European bank credit default swap (CDS) market.

While much of the focus in private credit has been on direct lending, Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) is emerging as a compelling alternative. What began as a regulatory tool is now gaining traction with a growing investor base, as banks look to optimise capital and issuance reaches record highs.

“Liberation Day” has landed, and not with a whimper. In extraordinary scenes in the Rose Garden of the White House, President Trump held up a board outlining the level of tariffs the US will impose on countries around the world, and in most cases they were worse than worst-case expectations.

With the recent economic spotlight dominated by President Trump’s rhetoric and Germany’s blockbuster fiscal expansion plans, Wednesday brought the UK back into focus with the latest round of inflation data and the Spring Statement from the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

Contentious call decisions from high profile issuers can provoke a fair bit of debate and emotion among participants in the Additional Tier 1 (AT1) market, and Deutsche Bank has put itself in the spotlight by announcing it will be calling only one of two AT1 bonds approaching their call dates.