Americas

Hong Kong-based online brokerage Futu Securities is on track to raise $160m after cutting the size of its IPO and signing up international investment fund General Atlantic for a private placement.

There is a fantastic case for owning Tesla shares, but investors cannot realistically asses its merits when the price is prone to huge daily moves, often driven by the whim of its errant leader. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) needs to muzzle Musk.

John McFarlane, chair of Barclays, said on Monday that he hoped the EU would not turn its back on London in the Brexit negotiations. However, he expected financial activity to move out of London to Europe, and thought that — on a global scale — faster-growing economies in Asia and the US, and big technology firms, could reshape the financial industry.

In this round-up, the US trade representative’s office announced the delay of a China tariff increase, the Shanghai Stock Exchange released detailed rules for its tech board and China’s annual planning session gets set to address issues including economic growth targets and foreign market access

Government-owned Costa Rican lender Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR) is looking to buy back a portion of its shortest-dated international bond.

Peruvian business group Alicorp may soon join the sparsely populated Latin American new issue pipeline as it looks to refinance an acquisition-driven bridge loan in the capital markets. Yet Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have taken differing views on the transaction.

A chilly east wind may be reminding Londoners it’s only March, but an unseasonal summer continues to blaze in the corporate bond market. Medtronic, the US-Irish maker of high tech medical devices, made its debut in the currency today with a six tranche extravaganza that attracted over €30bn of demand.

Singapore-based internet company Sea is planning to issue a new chunk of its US-listed equity, according to a filing with the regulator.

There was more bad news for Mexico’s standing in bond markets last Friday evening as S&P shocked many market participants by slapping a negative outlook on the sovereign’s BBB+ rating.

In this round-up, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) put pressure on banks to provide more private sector financing, the US trade representative said he was not yet satisfied with China’s trade promises and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) planned to increase cross-border capital market deals.

A robust balance sheet did not protect Vale from returning to junk status with Moody’s this week as the Brazilian mining company’s bonds suffered the agency’s decision to punish the borrower.

Latin American bond markets finally welcomed news of a potential issuer on Thursday as the concessionaire operating Quito’s new airport announced roadshow plans.