Americas

The FIG market cranked into life on Monday with Goldman Sachs’ €2.5bn dual tranche offering proving there is demand at both the long and short ends of the curve.

HSBC has named Greg Pierce head of markets, Americas, as the previous head Didier Deschamps moves to a strategic role.

New guidance from the US Internal Revenue Service has left many tax advisers baffled about how to treat over-the-counter options on baskets of securities dictated by models.

Caribbean island nation Jamaica filed a bond shelf with the SEC for issuance of up to $3bn on Tuesday, taking it one step closer to a much anticipated deal that would be at least partly used to finance PetroCaribe loans owed to Venezuela.

The US Federal Reserve has revised its rules on calculating how much extra capital big banks need to hold, so that banks which use more short term funding need bigger capital buffers.

Industrial conglomerate Cosan looks set to provide the toughest test of investor appetite for Brazilian credit risk since Petrobras published its delayed 2014 financials results in April.

Marking the five year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has put forward a wish list of “targeted amendments” for derivatives regulatory regimes.

A strong compression in implied volatility globally across most asset classes has brought euro/dollar volatility to near dead calm, despite unanswered questions about what the results of Greece’s bail-out discussions will be.

While some of the shine has come off its reform programme, Mexico occupies a key position in the emerging market universe, with its highly respected central bank, finance ministry team and policy agenda lauded by the international investor community. Philip Moore reports on the country’s progress since President Peňa Nieto came to power in 2012 and the long term impact of the far-reaching and ambitious reform programme.

In local and international bond markets the Mexican government has led the way in recent years, demonstrating the importance of a proactive and innovative debt management strategy. This has allowed the country to calmly navigate periods of volatility in emerging markets. With such volatility likely to persist until after the Federal Reserve finally raises interest rates, GlobalCapital sat down with the country’s debt chief and leading bankers and local investors in Mexico City to find out what Mexico does and needs to do to achieve such stability.

Finance Minister Luis Videgaray’s decision to cut annual infrastructure spending by $1.15bn in his January 2015 budget was unfortunate considering how much needs to be spent on the country’s inadequate roads, railways, ports and power facilities. Philip Moore reports on whether the private sector can help fill the infrastructure finance gap.

Mexico’s private pension funds (Afores) have played a key role in supporting the growth of the domestic capital market since the late 1990s. Now it’s time for them to diversify, writes Philip Moore.