North America

Hong Kong-listed China Mengniu Dairy has won regulatory approval to tap the Panda bond market for the first time, and is seeking as much as Rmb15bn ($226.7m) from short and medium term notes.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday proposed an interpretation of a crucial derivatives rule with regard to virtual currencies like bitcoin.

Humana came to the dollar market on Thursday to defy predictions by bankers that supply would dry up for 2017 following the latest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.

Futures based on cryptocurrency bitcoin exploded onto US exchanges this week, with traders looking to expose themselves to the asset's incredible volatility and authorities sounding warnings.

The US high yield market has enjoyed another steady week of new issuance, but not all borrowers have come through unscathed — and weak earnings reports have caused turbulence in the secondary market for some names.

Bank and finance names are expected to hit the dollar bond market in size during the opening weeks of 2018, as they look to take advantage of attractive spreads and strong risk appetite among investors.

Bunge Finance Europe, an arm of the US agricultural commodities group, signed a $1.75bn revolving credit facility with 42 banks on Tuesday.

LexinFintech, a Chinese online consumer lender, has shrunk the size of a mooted Nasdaq IPO to $132m from its original target of around $500m, after regulatory changes in China put the sector in a negative light.

Brokerage firm Interactive Brokers has started allowing clients to go short on Chicago Board Options Exchange bitcoin futures, requiring a margin of $40,000 per contract.

As excitement around cryptocurrencies reaches a fever pitch, US Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton on Monday issued a statement on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings, warning main street investors and market professionals alike about risk in the space.

This week, bankers and investors in the European high yield market sounded a message of confidence to potential issuers of bonds with triple-C ratings, even after BMC cancelled one such deal.

Santander Holdings USA offered investors two tranches of senior debt on Monday as it looked to close in on its total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirement.