United States

British American Tobacco is expected to bring the week-long run without any new corporate bond issuance to an end later this week. The UK based tobacco company could issue in dollars, euros and sterling.

Verizon Communications launched its first Australian dollar bond on Thursday. The four tranche deal is the largest corporate bond in the currency this year, raising A$2.2bn ($1.75bn) when it was priced on Friday.

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.

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.

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.

The future of cryptocurrency derivatives looked bright this week as digital currency exchange and clearing house LedgerX won its derivatives clearing organisation (DCO) licence, complementing the swap execution facility approval it received from US regulators three weeks ago. While the fledgling asset class still has a lot to prove, a united effort from US regulators could mean it will be difficult to slow its momentum.