North America

Public sector borrowers tore $10bn of funding from the dollar market on Tuesday, shaving several basis points from initial price thoughts in the process. Only one benchmark is on screens for Wednesday, but SSA bankers expect next week’s run-up to the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president on January 20 will be — in Trump terminology — “huge”.

The Nodal Exchange, a North American energy derivatives market place, has introduced Mid-Columbia power futures contracts.

IHS Markit has unveiled a solution aimed at helping market participants meet withholding tax obligations on US equity derivatives arising from the newly imposed section 871(m) rule.

CME Europe is consulting with the derivatives market, having proposed to overhaul its exchange rulebook following reauthorisation under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).

Use of blockchain technology in the derivatives market progressed beyond the proof of concept (POC) phase this week, with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) moving to take distributed ledger into the heart of its operation.

The dollar covered bond market is in good shape, and it seems likely that issuers will want to follow the success of Bank of Montreal which last Wednesday issued the first benchmark of the year at a cheaper cost and in larger size than its previous deal issued six month ago.

Citi became the first US bank to hit the market in 2017 amid a torrent of Yankee issuance, as it took home $5.25bn in two separate trades to power a record start to the year for dollar supply.

Timothy Massad, chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has resigned, with J Christopher Giancarlo widely expected to take up the job, fuelling hopes of a more flexible, market friendly approach to regulation.

Auto makers led from the front as corporate US dollar issuance this week got off to its best ever start to the year.

European financials have found every reason to get into the dollar market early in 2017, leading to a fireworks display of total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) senior deals this week. Though market conditions could not have been better to receive the banks, many will have wanted to squirrel away quantities of funding and capital for what could be another troublesome year in the capital markets.

CME Group is set to introduce six currency futures with monthly expiries.

Major derivatives exchanges have released figures showing growth over 2016 and in December, with big gains reported in some product lines.