Americas

Walt Disney joined the swell of blue chips entering the Maple market, selling C$1.25bn ($1bn) of seven year notes on Wednesday. Maple bonds, a suburb of niche currency markets for years, is becoming a hotbed for blue chips in search of diversification, writes Silas Brown.

Bank of Nova Scotia made a stunning splash in the dollar market as it printed the first offshore additional tier one (AT1) bond by a Canadian lender.

Export Development Canada (EDC) sold a five year sterling floater on Thursday, raising £750m with its largest deal ever in the currency and, in an unusual development for the sterling market, pulled in its spread by 2bp. The borrower paid up over its dollar curve but was, according to one of the leads, happy to do so to maintain a presence in sterling.

The burgeoning cryptocurrency market is facing new questions as a Commissioner at the US derivatives regulator asked what “actual delivery” of a digital currency meant, in the context of derivatives rules.

A decision not to take a rating from Moody’s proved wise for Braskem as the Brazilian company attracted significant interest from investment grade buyers on its way to a $1.75bn dual tranche deal on Wednesday.

Extraordinarily strong appetite for EM corporate paper helped power company Colbún become the latest Latin American borrower to issue through its existing curve on Wednesday.

Walt Disney joined the swell of blue chips entering the Maple market, selling C$1.25bn ($1bn) of seven year notes on Tuesday. And, as recent issues from AB InBev, Apple and McDonald's demonstrate, the Maple market is becoming a central pillar of corporate funding diversification.

Interdealer brokerage firm TP ICAP has made a number of hires in its Institutional Services division, the company announced on Wednesday. The division provides advice, sales and execution to clients like institutional asset managers and hedge funds.

The chief counsel to former Commissioner Sharon Bowen, Petal Walker, followed her boss on the way out of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Tuesday.

Brazil followed Mexico’s example in making the most of idyllic issuance conditions on Tuesday, though some investors argued that Brazil’s $3bn deal demonstrated that the market retained some sense of discipline.

Chinese micro-lender Qudian has launched bookbuilding for its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, which could raise up to $825m, according to a banker close to the deal.

The Walt Disney Company is heading north for Canadian dollars, in its first public foray beyond the dollar market.