Americas

US drugs specialist Catalent Pharma on Tuesday began offering its debut euro bond to investors as it sought funding for its acquisition of peers Pharmatek and Accucaps.

The quixotic quest of Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari to “end too big to fail” requires nothing less than a total reordering of US bank regulation (and probably implies ditching Basel as well). But really solving the problem can’t just mean restructuring the banking system, it means nothing less changing how we think about money and debt as well.

Brazilian steel company Usiminas, which restructured its bank loans and domestic debt in September, has said it will attempt an exchange of its dollar 2018 bonds, which were not part of the restructuring.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association and IHS Markit have unveiled the ISDA 2016 Variation Margin Protocol, which automates amending collateral documents or setting up agreements to comply with variation margin requirements from March 1.

The government of El Salvador finally looks ready to issue a much needed international bond to refinance short dated debt, but there is concern that the deal will be only a temporary solution to the country’s liquidity problems.

Nasdaq-listed Baozun has filed for a follow-on of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) worth some $100m via three bookrunners.

Santander Chile, which sent a strong message about its financing capabilities with two consecutive deals immediately after the US election result, will adapt to the Trump era with more international bond issuance, the bank’s CFO told GlobalCapital.

Whether PDVSA bondholders choose to believe JP Morgan’s EM research team, or if they agree with the Venezuelan company’s CEO that the US bank is an “enemy of the fatherland”, they cannot have had a particularly reassuring run-up to Thanksgiving, after the borrower’s coupon payments went missing. Oliver West reports.

European and UK issuers have driven the US Private Placement (US PP) market to near record highs, despite concerns around the Brexit vote and US presidential elections. Now, the prospect of the end of an era of record low rates could push volumes to unprecedented levels, writes Elly Whittaker.

Rising jitters around the approaching Italian referendum and ECB meeting in early December are keeping European credit spreads elevated, say traders, but many see the potential for a big rally given the extent of underperformance versus the US in November.

Corporate borrowers remained active in the dollar market in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday as investors continued to put cash to work in the high grade credit markets.

Market participants are expecting tense discussions after Belize’s government said it would look to restructure its 2038 “super” bond even though there is some debate as to whether a restructuring is really necessary.