Americas

Indexes that invest in options strategies have historically generated better returns and lower volatility than other key stock, bond and commodity benchmarks, according to a study backed by the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

US car rental provider Avis this week followed rival Hertz to the euro market and sold a €300m bond, increasing the deal from its initially marketed size.

National Bank of Canada issued a rare seven year euro covered bond on Thursday and although it offered virtually no concession, it was highly subscribed, despite secondary market profit-taking.

Bankers said that the long list of Latin American borrowers getting ready to issue should now have a clear path to market after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged — as many had expected.

Argentina will meet investors in Europe next week ahead of a potential euro-denominated bond issue that would be the first from the sovereign since its 2001 default.

Jean-Pierre Mustier, chief executive of UniCredit, told GlobalCapital that US regulators do not really want foreign banks to have big operations in their domestic market, and he pointed to the unequal treatment of European banks in the US compared with US banks in Europe.

Brazilian cement company Votorantim Cimentos (VotoCim) will begin meeting fixed income investors on Thursday ahead of a potential bond issue that would be used to buy back up to two existing euro-denominated notes.

Russian issuers dominated the first half of the week in emerging market bonds but the attention is now on Polish financial mBank which has braved coming on the same day as the US Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision.

Standard Chartered has expanded Kaustubh Kulkarni’s responsibilities within debt capital markets as the bank seeks fresh opportunities in local currency bonds.

The US is one step closer to becoming a renminbi hub with Bank of China New York officially appointed as the country’s first RMB clearing bank, a major development towards the internationalisation of the currency.

Synechron, a technology services provider, is targeting margin calls as one of six ‘blockchain accelerator’ applications for the financial markets.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has penalised Russia’s VTB Bank and its London-based VTB Capital investment banking subsidiary over what the Commission called "fictitious" and "non-competitive" block trades of Russian ruble/US dollar futures contracts.