The UK has come from almost a standing start in the past year to become the largest issuer of syndicated bonds in Europe, after the country's government reacted to the financial crisis by diversifying the way it raises money.

The UK has overtaken Germany in the syndicated sovereign bond league tables so far this year, according to data from Dealogic. The UK Government arranged $38.9bn (€29.5bn) worth of syndicated bonds to Germany's $36.6bn and Spain's $36.1bn. As a proportion of its funding, this means that 20% of UK debt has been issued through syndication in the year to date, compared with just 10% last year.