TheBondService @Bond__Service

The mistake on a bond tap: assuming consolidation is automatic. A tranche trading under a temporary ISIN does not merge into the original line because the calendar reached the right day. Somebody has to instruct the clearing systems. Agree the date in writing before pricing.

The mistake: treating bond identifier procurement as late-stage admin. The order is fixed. LEI first. Then draft terms advanced enough to classify it. Then ISIN and Common Code together, after an eligibility review. Then paying agent. Then listing. Start with the term sheet.

40 days. That is the Regulation S distribution compliance period that typically keeps a newly tapped bond tranche from being fungible with the existing line — and the reason tap issues are allocated a temporary ISIN before consolidating into the original one.

The most expensive mistake in a UK corporate bond issue is not a fee. It is a missed closing date, caused by an ISIN, LEI or DTC eligibility application started too late. An extended rate lock costs more than the entire legal budget. Sequencing is a cost discipline.

1991. The year Euroclear and Clearstream retired their separate proprietary reference numbers for a single jointly allocated Common Code — nine digits, one number both settlement systems agree on. Before that, the same bond carried two different depository references.

The rating mistake UK bond issuers make is not choosing wrong. It is choosing late. A first-time credit rating takes 8–12 weeks. Started alongside venue and security decisions, it runs quietly. Started after the timetable is published, it is an 8–12 week problem.

A UK infrastructure group planning a £35m seven-year bond approached 14 institutions unrated. 5 could not buy unrated paper under their mandates. 2 of those were the largest potential tickets. A rating took 11 weeks and priced around 45bp tighter. Composite figures.

A UK manufacturing group's £20m five-year bond carried £540,000 of one-off issuance costs and £28,000 a year in recurring fees. Over the life of the bond, that is 68 basis points. Approved coupon: 7.25%. Actual cost of the money: 7.93%. Composite figures.

Mistake UK bond issuers make: assuming an unsecured bond leaves investors unprotected. A negative pledge covenant stops the issuer granting security to any other lender without granting bondholders the same. Most of the protection. No charge created.

Secured vs unsecured on a UK mid-market corporate bond: Coupon gap: typically 75–200bps Added time to issue: 3–6 weeks Companies House charge registration deadline: 21 days from creation Miss that last one and the charge is void against a liquidator.

A common mistake on UK bond issues: treating the FCA prospectus as a formality and drafting it last. The Financial Conduct Authority reviews the disclosure properly, and comments arrive in rounds. Leave it late and approval can slip past the date you need the funds.

A CFI code is exactly 6 characters, set by the ISO 10962 standard. - Char 1: category (D = debt) - Char 2: group (B = bond) - Chars 3-6: interest, ranking, redemption, form Most plain bonds begin "DB". Six characters, read by every settlement system worldwide.

Decode your bond's six-character CFI before close. Match each character against the term sheet.

Most UK treasurers have never decoded their own bond's CFI. It takes 60 seconds.

Priced 6.125%, book 3.4x covered. US QIBs took 42% of allocation.

Same coupon, same maturity. Two tranches, two clearing systems.

Most first-time UK corporate issuers belong in UKLR 17.

UK-listed software company. £350m market cap. Five-year convertible bond. Priced at a 32% conversion premium and a 4% cash coupon. Vanilla equivalent: 7.5%. Cash interest saved over five years: roughly £2.8m. Driven by one structuring decision made early. — The Bond Service

K bond issuers regularly apply for an ISIN before legal documentation is finalised. Each rejection by the London Stock Exchange (the UK's National Numbering Agency) costs a week. The right sequence: term sheet, IPA, depositary, then ISIN. — The Bond Service

The legal opinion omitted one confirmation DTC expects on Rule 144A resale eligibility. Opinion returned. Review restarted. Issuance slipped five weeks, crossing a coupon reset on a related facility. Legal fees: six figures of additional spend.