North America

The dollar FIG market took a breather after recording the busiest July on record amid red-hot market conditions.

The dollar market got off to a busy start in August with US telecoms heavyweights Verizon and Comcast taking home a combined $5.5bn on the back of strong demand.

Gilt yields dropped on Thursday after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-2 to hold the Bank Rate at 0.25% — a higher majority than the 5-3 in favour of holding at its last meeting in June. The more dovish result came after weeks of hawkish noises emanating from the central bank. Meanwhile, the Province of Alberta returned to the sterling market to tap its debut issue from earlier this year.

Discovery Communications has agreed a $9.6bn bridge loan for its $14.6bn cash and stock acquisition of fellow US media corporation, Scripps Networks Interactive, as recent mergers and acquisition deals push US loan volumes up.

Verizon Communications launched its first Australian dollar bond on Thursday. As with its Swiss franc issuance in March, the US firm is aiming to further diversify its lending base.

The US student loan market is in bubble territory. At $1.3tr, it is the country's second largest consumer debt segment after residential mortgages. Yet, even though 44m Americans are saddled with student debt, at an average of around $37,000 per borrower, student loans are more a drag on economic growth than a disaster waiting to happen.

The North American Derivatives Exchange, owned by IG Group, has some deficiencies in the way it monitors trading violations, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

A London daily silver futures contract will trade on the Intercontinental Exchange Futures US platform from September 5.

The Province of Alberta has returned to the sterling market, following its debut in the currency in February.

China Resources Land plans to issue its first mortgage or management fee-backed securities by the end of 2017, chief financial officer James Yu has told GlobalCapital Asia's sister publication GlobalRMB.

Sabine Lautenschläger, vice-chair of the supervisory board of the European Central Bank (ECB), has said that deregulating the financial system would be a "big mistake".

US-listed Sohu.com is looking to file confidentially for the IPO of its internet search unit Sogou, the China-based company said on Monday.