United States

A recent string of defaults in the US high yield bond market, particularly in the retail and supermarkets sectors, has not caused undue concern among market players, with most of the situations already factored into assumptions.

Some US private placement investors in London are investing more time and resources on bilateral US PP transactions that do not involve either syndication or agent banks, so as to gain full allocations and originate their own business.

Chinese photovoltaics company Daqo New Energy Corp is looking to raise up to $112m from a follow-on offering of American Depository Shares (ADS).

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association this week asked its members for feedback on the potential integration of smart contract functionality into the definitions that govern derivatives transactions.

Leucadia National Corporation, the holding company of Jefferies, has sold 48% of its beef business, all of its automotive equity interests, and changed the name of the company to Jefferies Financial Group — a set of moves which ought to free the firm to take advantage of merchant banking opportunities, while giving investors a clearer business to focus on.

Online game streaming platform Huya is set to launch an up to $200m listing of American Depository Shares (ADS), filing a prospectus with the US stock market regulator on Monday.

The US president says China will lower trade barriers and make a deal with Washington, the recently merged banking and insurance watchdog officially launches, and Vanguard makes five exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available in RMB and dollars in Hong Kong.

General Mills put the investment grade corporate dollar market back on a more positive course this week with a tightly priced trade that paved the way for a rebound in supply.

US health products and services company PerkinElmer priced a €300m corporate bond this week, nearly two years after its debut in the currency. The deal saw good demand as the company paid a spread of 60bp over mid-swaps for the three year notes.

Private equity-owned ION Investment Group has been named as the high bidder of the two that have made last minute bids to beat Temenos in the race for UK trading technology company Fidessa.

Swiss telecoms provider Swisscomm found strong demand for its new corporate bond deal. However, investors were very clear on where they saw the value in the deal and the issuer had to pay significant spreads to ensure the deal’s success.

Mireille Dyrberg, the former COO of Nex Group fintech subsidiary TriOptima, has joined data reconciliation firm Duco.