Americas

Central American sovereign Honduras will begin meeting fixed income investors on Friday ahead a potential 10 year dollar bond.

Timothy Massad, chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has resigned, with Republican commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo widely expected to take up the job.

Cash strapped Venezuela has issued $5bn of 20 year bonds in a private placement sold to state-owned Banco de Venezuela and the central bank.

Barclays pulled in $1.5bn for a 30 year senior bond as part of a four-tranche offering worth $5bn, as five Yankee FIG borrowers powered through the first global window of 2017.

Royal Bank of Canada took advantage of deeper demand for fixed rate paper than floating in sterling covered bonds, issuing a five year trade on Wednesday. RBC has gathered more demand for its deal than Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which issued a floating rate deal a day before.

High volumes of issuance have boosted confidence in FIG primary market conditions at the start of 2017, with bankers expecting flows to remain high until banks start going into blackout later this month.

Four covered bond issuers returned to the market on Tuesday with the first deals of 2017. Two €1.5bn 10 year transactions showed that borrowers are prioritising the tougher, longer duration deals and, while conditions permit, issuing in large size.

Argentina’s resurgence in international bond markets helped JP Morgan end 2016 as the top firm in primary in Latin America bond markets, up from sixth place in 2015, according to Dealogic.

Brazilian steel company Usiminas has given its dollar bondholders until January 12 to approve its restructuring of domestic debt, the second time it has pushed out the deadline.

In 2016, blockchain went from a buzzword to a ‘must have’ in financial markets, as seemingly every bank and exchange invested in projects and proofs-of-concept. But with so many asset classes having been promised big gains, 2017 begins with a dose of realism about the limits of the technology — and the challenges it poses for regulators. Dan Alderson reports.

The upending of global financial markets in the second half of 2016, driven by shocks from the UK’s Brexit vote and US presidential election, has caused a breakdown in previously dominant cross-asset correlations and a sharp resizing of event risk in 2017. Dan Alderson reports on a wave of structured product innovation aimed at navigating this new and more volatile universe.

Cross-currency swap markets face a rough start to 2017. Traders fear that diverging central bank policy, a shift in corporate borrowing dynamics and a repatriation of US money will all upset the basis at different parts of the curve. Dan Alderson reports.