Concept cards
Knowing a definition is not commercial awareness. Each card gives you the plain meaning and the sentence that shows you understand why it matters.
The rules that stop firms from controlling so much of a market that prices, choice, or innovation suffer. In the UK the Competition and Markets Authority polices this.
In an interview
Say why a regulator would care: market share, control of a bottleneck, or removal of a close competitor. That is what turns a deal from agreed to conditional.
Selling or spinning off part of a business. The separated unit needs its own contracts, systems, staff, and data before it can stand alone.
In an interview
Carve-outs are where legal and finance meet: the valuation depends on how cleanly you can separate people, IP, and client data.
A regulatory approval required when someone acquires a controlling stake in a regulated firm. The FCA assesses whether the new owner is fit and properly funded.
In an interview
It is a reminder that in financial services, signing a deal is not closing a deal — the regulator holds the final gate.
The investigation a buyer runs before a deal: accounts, contracts, litigation, staff, and regulatory exposure.
In an interview
Mention that findings do not just kill deals — they reprice them, via warranties, indemnities, or a lower headline number.
UK government bonds. The government borrows money and pays interest; the yield is the return investors demand to lend to the UK.
In an interview
Gilt yields are the price of UK risk. When they rise, borrowing costs rise for everyone — mortgages, corporates, and leveraged buyouts.
An initial public offering — a company selling shares to public investors for the first time and listing on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange.
In an interview
Link listings to market conditions: IPOs need stable valuations, so a pulled float usually means buyers and sellers disagree on price.
Borrowing heavily to fund an acquisition, usually by a private equity buyer, with the debt sitting on the acquired company.
In an interview
Connect it to rates: when the cost of debt rises, private equity has to write bigger equity cheques or walk away.
The old London Interbank Offered Rate — an estimated rate banks charged each other. Retired after rigging scandals and replaced by SONIA in sterling markets.
In an interview
Use LIBOR to show you understand conduct risk: a benchmark built on estimates invited manipulation, so regulators moved to transaction-based rates.
Mergers and acquisitions — one company buying, or combining with, another. Deals are paid for in cash, shares, or a mix of both.
In an interview
Always tie a deal to a motive: scale, capability, cost savings, or defence. Then name the risk: integration, financing, or regulatory approval.
A central bank creating money to buy bonds, pushing yields down and encouraging lending. Unwinding it — selling those bonds back — is quantitative tightening.
In an interview
Frame QE as a demand tool used when interest rates are already near zero, and QT as the slow reversal that adds supply pressure to gilt markets.
A Regulatory News Service filing — the official channel a London-listed company uses to disclose price-sensitive information to the whole market at once.
In an interview
Use it to show you understand disclosure: selective briefing is market abuse, so material news goes through RNS first.
The Sterling Overnight Index Average — the benchmark that replaced LIBOR, built from actual overnight transactions rather than estimates.
In an interview
Contrast it with LIBOR: SONIA is transaction-based, so it cannot be talked up or down by submitters.