Americas

Colombian asset prices hardly budged this week after Standard & Poor’s brought the South American sovereign — once an EM darling — within one notch of junk status.

Banco Santander Chile sold $500m of three year bonds on Tuesday in its first dollar-denominated sale in three and a half years, offering investors a rare chance to buy such highly rated paper.

Humana came to the dollar market on Thursday to defy predictions by bankers that supply would dry up for 2017 following the latest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.

Futures based on cryptocurrency bitcoin exploded onto US exchanges this week, with traders looking to expose themselves to the asset's incredible volatility and authorities sounding warnings.

The US high yield market has enjoyed another steady week of new issuance, but not all borrowers have come through unscathed — and weak earnings reports have caused turbulence in the secondary market for some names.

Bank and finance names are expected to hit the dollar bond market in size during the opening weeks of 2018, as they look to take advantage of attractive spreads and strong risk appetite among investors.

Bunge Finance Europe, an arm of the US agricultural commodities group, signed a $1.75bn revolving credit facility with 42 banks on Tuesday.

Latin American bonds and currencies enjoyed a positive performance on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve’s broadly expected decision to hike its target rate by 25bp. Bankers and investors are finally looking forward to a rest after a hectic new issue schedule.

LexinFintech, a Chinese online consumer lender, has shrunk the size of a mooted Nasdaq IPO to $132m from its original target of around $500m, after regulatory changes in China put the sector in a negative light.

Brokerage firm Interactive Brokers has started allowing clients to go short on Chicago Board Options Exchange bitcoin futures, requiring a margin of $40,000 per contract.

Mexican payroll lender Alpha Holdings sold its inaugural cross-border bond deal on Tuesday though it was unable to tighten beyond initial price thoughts.

Banco Santander Chile sold $500m of three year bonds on Tuesday in its first dollar-denominated sale in three and a half years, taking advantage of a beneficial swap rate for opportunistic trades, according to DCM bankers.