United States

Intercontinental Exchange has named a replacement for the president of its ICE Clear US operation, Thomas Hammond, who will leave the post at the end of this year.

New York-listed aircraft leasing company Aircastle has sent invitations for a $75m unsecured financing through a single mandated lead arranger and bookrunner.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange has presented further research that shows indices investing in options strategies have historically been less volatile than other key stock, bond and commodity benchmarks, following on from another study it unveiled last week.

Syndicated loans are becoming a focal point of firms looking to demonstrate the power of blockchain, or distributed ledger technology, with different initiatives ramping up and competing to solve the problem of lengthy settlement times in the private debt market.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange has made a push for equity and options trading power in the US and Europe, by agreeing terms this week to buy Kansas-based exchange Bats Global Markets for $3.2bn.

Chinese data analytics firm Gridsum Holdings has raised $82m after global investors piled in to its Nasdaq IPO.

Azure Power Global, the holding company of Azure Power India, opened books on Thursday for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and is targeting as much as $180.3m.

The appointment of a renminbi clearing bank in New York is a political win for the China-US relationship that adds to the currency’s global prestige, but it is unlikely to boost RMB trade or investment in the short term, according to experts.

A trio of banks tapped the dollar market either side of the Fed meeting to lock in cheap financing in anticipation of tighter issuance windows in the coming weeks.

UK-listed Shire Pharmaceuticals and France’s Air Liquide led the Yankee charge into the dollar market this week with long awaited M&A financing deals that investors welcomed with open arms.

The roll of iTraxx credit indices this week, coupled with a monthly credit options expiry, prompted a burst of trading activity and brought some surprises — with Crossover trading going against expectations and volatility traders entering into unusually long-dated expiries.

Blockchain came sharply into focus this week for the derivatives market, as industry bodies warned on both the need for such technology and to regulate its use. Meanwhile, firms rolled out a range of new initiatives to address the market’s mounting challenges around margin and settlements.