North America

The burgeoning cryptocurrency market is facing new questions as a Commissioner at the US derivatives regulator asked what “actual delivery” of a digital currency meant, in the context of derivatives rules.

Walt Disney joined the swell of blue chips entering the Maple market, selling C$1.25bn ($1bn) of seven year notes on Tuesday. And, as recent issues from AB InBev, Apple and McDonald's demonstrate, the Maple market is becoming a central pillar of corporate funding diversification.

Interdealer brokerage firm TP ICAP has made a number of hires in its Institutional Services division, the company announced on Wednesday. The division provides advice, sales and execution to clients like institutional asset managers and hedge funds.

The chief counsel to former Commissioner Sharon Bowen, Petal Walker, followed her boss on the way out of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Tuesday.

Chinese micro-lender Qudian has launched bookbuilding for its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, which could raise up to $825m, according to a banker close to the deal.

The Walt Disney Company is heading north for Canadian dollars, in its first public foray beyond the dollar market.

Dollar borrowers failed to take advantage of pent-up demand and tightening spreads as US corporate bond supply recorded a lacklustre end to the month.

Goldman Sachs couldn’t resist the lure of tight spreads as it hit the dollar market in the run-up to announcing third quarter earnings.

It was a week of blistering conditions in the SSA dollar market but the pace of issuance has slowed a little in comparison to the glut that defined the few weeks of September.

Rating: Aa2/A+/AA-

Bank of Montreal (BMO) raised A$800m selling Australian dollar bonds for the first time on Wednesday. The rising flows of Asia Pacific investors is making the Australian dollar market a useful source of diversification for financials and corporates alike.

Singapore-based Sea began pre-marketing a potential $1bn US IPO this week, according to a banker close to the deal.