Americas

Blockchain came sharply into focus this week for the derivatives market, as industry bodies warned on both the need for such technology and to regulate its use. Meanwhile, firms rolled out a range of new initiatives to address the market’s mounting challenges around margin and settlements.

New funding possibilities in the Swiss franc bond market for lower rated issuers have been opened up by a ground-breaking Sfr300m issue for YPF, the Argentine state oil company, writes Silas Brown.

Intercontinental Exchange, the US based exchange and clearing business, has made main board appointments and named a new chairperson for the board of its ICE Clear Europe subsidiary.

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.