Americas

Wrangles over the future of euro interest rate swap clearing after Brexit were revived this week, with both European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and outgoing US Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Timothy Massad suggesting that the EU should maintain oversight of the UK market. Meanwhile, two London-based executives argued that the UK should extend its EU exit process to five years to avoid losing swaps business to the US.

Tradeweb Markets, the New York based electronic fixed income, derivatives and exchange-traded fund marketplace operator, has unveiled a service that allows market participants to meet post-trade transparency requirements mandated by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II).

Ernst & Young has appointed a head of global private equity to replace Jeffrey Bunder, who has moved to a US private equity firm.

Latin American issuers are leading the charge to primary markets this year so far in emerging market bonds but Wednesday saw the first CEEMEA issuer to open books as Israel tried a dual tranche 10 and 20 year trade.

The Republic of Ecuador’s thirst for new debt shows no sign of being quenched as the South American nation raised $1bn of bonds on Tuesday.

Both of Petrobras’ new benchmark bonds traded up more than a point the day after pricing as bankers said the level of demand for the deal would have allowed the company to print even more than the $4bn it managed on Monday.

Public sector borrowers tore $10bn of funding from the dollar market on Tuesday, shaving several basis points from initial price thoughts in the process. Only one benchmark is on screens for Wednesday, but SSA bankers expect next week’s run-up to the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president on January 20 will be — in Trump terminology — “huge”.

The Nodal Exchange, a North American energy derivatives market place, has introduced Mid-Columbia power futures contracts.

IHS Markit has unveiled a solution aimed at helping market participants meet withholding tax obligations on US equity derivatives arising from the newly imposed section 871(m) rule.

Bond bankers were struggling to remember a time when a single-B credit had provided the first LatAm deal of the year, but Petrobras’ new issue succeeded in blowing the market wide open as borrowers line up to raise funding.

CME Europe is consulting with the derivatives market, having proposed to overhaul its exchange rulebook following reauthorisation under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).

Use of blockchain technology in the derivatives market progressed beyond the proof of concept (POC) phase this week, with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) moving to take distributed ledger into the heart of its operation.