Americas

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) on Friday said that the leverage ratio should recognise the exposure-reducing nature of initial margin, becoming the latest body to call for change on the issue.

A positive day for Argentina’s bonds on Thursday did not reverse its inverted yield curve in dollars as analysts say investors are becoming ever more concerned about the country.

Brazilian pulp and paper company Suzano’s decision not to announce a deal the day after finishing an investor roadshow this week left bankers wondering exactly which Latin American issuers would find conditions ripe for a new deal.

Jamaican telecoms group Digicel is “undermining” its position with creditors by pushing ahead with a bond exchange that rating agencies have deemed as distressed, Fitch Ratings said.

Banks that deal in Yankees, including Nordea, HSBC and BPCE, raised $16bn in new funding as the market reopened with a bang after the Labor Day holiday.

Cigna Healthcare ended weeks of speculation on Thursday when it hit the dollar market with a $20bn trade to finance its acquisition of Express Scripts.

Daimler raised £500m when it reopened the sterling corporate bond market two weeks ago following the summer break — and nothing more was seen in the currency until this week, when two deals raised a combined £1.1bn.

Andrew Bailey, CEO of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), on Thursday backed calls for deference espoused by US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Christopher Giancarlo, in a speech at the Eurofi Financial forum in Vienna.

US telecoms giant AT&T has historically used the sterling corporate bond market for longer dated issuance. However, on Thursday, it sold an eight year deal in the currency – its shortest tenor in sterling since 2009.

The Asian follow-on and block markets saw two transactions in Chinese healthcare names this week that raised a total of $250m.

The United States’ top derivatives regulator, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Christopher Giancarlo, this week apologised for his organisation’s past regulatory overreach in policing foreign derivatives markets and called for a “reset” in relations with the European Union. The Europeans would be wise to take him up on his offer.

Bond bankers covering Latin America will have all eyes on Brazilian pulp and paper company Suzano on Thursday as it could become the first company from the region to issue in dollar markets in nearly two months.