North America

The Options Clearing Corp (OCC) had a big year in 2018, with cleared options volumes beating record levels set in 2011.

New bitcoin futures engineered by Bakkt, a cryptocurrency firm set up by Intercontinental Exchange, will be delayed, according to a market notice released by ICE on New Year’s Eve.

Futu Holdings, parent of Hong Kong-based Futu Securities International, is planning a Nasdaq IPO of up to $300m.

The global high yield bond market has produced $320bn of new issues in 2018, up to December 21, 43% down on last year’s total of $563bn, according to Dealogic. Sentiment has turned progressively more bearish as the year has worn on, with concerns about US-China trade hostility and overvaluation of US equities biting.

In this round-up, Chinese president Xi Jinping’s speech at the celebration of China’s reform and opening up offered no concrete promises, the People’s Bank of China reopened the seven-day reverse repo after 36 days of suspension, and China dropped its holding of US government bonds for the fifth consecutive month.

2019 is likely to be another year where the independent mandate of central bankers comes under pressure from populist politicians in democracies. It is easy for those in the market to sympathise with the quiet technocrats over the loud-mouthed headbangers, but scrutiny is deserved.

The volume of euro bond issuance from US companies fell sharply in 2018 compared to recent years. The finger of blame was quickly pointed at Trump’s tax changes, but there were other forces at play. Can the barriers be lifted in time for a better 2019? Nigel Owen reports.

Regulators agreed to impose a tighter identification regime for southbound trading of Stock Connect, foreign direct investment (FDI) into China dropped for the third month, and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) confirmed temporary import tariff cuts for automobiles from the US.

The dollar market is set to record its first month of zero bank debt issuance on record as borrowers remain on the sidelines amid choppy market conditions.

China has rolled out trade concessions to the United States, signalling a willingness to negotiate before the trade war gets out of control. But it has also increased its rhetoric over the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in Canada.

Goldman Sachs International conducted business with Lars Windhorst, the colourful German financier, despite warnings from its compliance department that he was a high risk counterparty.

Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) gave investors a year-end treat this week with 2018’s last billion-dollar IPO from an Asian issuer. It was paid back with a near 8% jump in its stock price on the first day of trading. But to succeed the firm had to cut its fundraising target and get realistic on pricing. Jonathan Breen reports.