North America

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) on Friday said that the leverage ratio should recognise the exposure-reducing nature of initial margin, becoming the latest body to call for change on the issue.

Banks that deal in Yankees, including Nordea, HSBC and BPCE, raised $16bn in new funding as the market reopened with a bang after the Labor Day holiday.

Cigna Healthcare ended weeks of speculation on Thursday when it hit the dollar market with a $20bn trade to finance its acquisition of Express Scripts.

Daimler raised £500m when it reopened the sterling corporate bond market two weeks ago following the summer break — and nothing more was seen in the currency until this week, when two deals raised a combined £1.1bn.

Andrew Bailey, CEO of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), on Thursday backed calls for deference espoused by US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Christopher Giancarlo, in a speech at the Eurofi Financial forum in Vienna.

US telecoms giant AT&T has historically used the sterling corporate bond market for longer dated issuance. However, on Thursday, it sold an eight year deal in the currency – its shortest tenor in sterling since 2009.

The Asian follow-on and block markets saw two transactions in Chinese healthcare names this week that raised a total of $250m.

The United States’ top derivatives regulator, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Christopher Giancarlo, this week apologised for his organisation’s past regulatory overreach in policing foreign derivatives markets and called for a “reset” in relations with the European Union. The Europeans would be wise to take him up on his offer.

The buyers of Thomson Reuters’ Financial & Risk business on Wednesday launched roadshows for $5.5bn equivalent of high yield bonds across two tenors and in dollars and euros, following the launch of $8bn of loans for the buyout on Tuesday.

Chinese mobile content aggregator Qutoutiao has hit the play button on its US IPO, targeting $144m from an offering of American Depository Shares (ADS).

A group of investors have taken Snap, the photo messaging company beloved by millennials, to court in California, alleging they were misled during the IPO process. They have filed a motion to have the case made into a class action suit, which might mean that it will rumble on for years at the company’s expense.

Two global initiatives aiming to improve transparency in markets have announced a partnership to link codes that identify market participants and the financial instruments they trade.