Short dated US dollar floating rate notes proved a popular product in the MTN market this week as some investors sought protection against a likely policy rate hike.

Municipality Finance this week enjoyed a boost to its plans to term out its funding, as an investor placed a reverse enquiry order for a record breaking long dated euro note.

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti has sold €300m and €150m notes late in February, despite dealers reporting an overall lack of MTNs in the market.

With hotly contested elections approaching in France, the Netherlands and Germany, 2017 is expected to be rife with political risk. So skittish investors, wary of committing funds for long periods, will pump cash into money market funds, says a Moody’s report.

The MTN market is rapidly making up for a sedate start to the year with a flurry of niche currency trades, including the world’s first bond in Myanmar kyats.

The Autonomous Community of Madrid has hit the long end of the curve with a 20 year private placement for its first deal of 2017.

Origin, an electronic platform for private placement issuance, went live on Monday. While some dealers believe the system may be too costly for the service it provides, the market abuse regulation (MAR) could make the system more valuable.

The market for medium term notes is expected to come to life over the next few weeks after a subdued start to 2017, with some bankers and issuers touting floating rate notes as the next big thing.

Origin, an electronic platform for private placement issuance, went live on Monday, with six investment banks and more than 20 borrowers having access to the beta version.

US money market fund reform is finally here, after eight years in the making. A volatile and testing 2017 will show us whether the wait has been worth it. Lewis McLellan reports.

Jérôme Margerin has left the MTN desk at Nomura, where he has worked for more than two years.

SSAs are turning to the MTN market to meet investor requests and to pick up some pre-funding in December, with the bulk of their funding needs for the year completed.