Americas

Hong Kong-listed China Mengniu Dairy has won regulatory approval to tap the Panda bond market for the first time, and is seeking as much as Rmb15bn ($226.7m) from short and medium term notes.

Brazilian low-cost airline Gol has announced its latest liability management efforts: a $50m tender offer for its outstanding 2020s and a redemption of three small bonds issued as part of a distressed debt exchange last year.

Rutas al Mar, the toll road being built between Colombia’s Antioquia and Bolivar states, became the third concessionaire in the country’s 4G infrastructure project to issue bonds last week.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday proposed an interpretation of a crucial derivatives rule with regard to virtual currencies like bitcoin.

Bankers and investors covering Latin America were grateful this week for the end of a hectic year in which unprecedented levels of issuance have sprung from the region, with strong conditions set to continue in 2018.

Mexican payroll lender Alpha Holdings sold its inaugural cross-border bond deal on Tuesday, becoming the latest in a growing group of Lat Am non-bank lenders to have issued internationally.

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.