Venezuela

In the wake of Venezuela’s launch of petro, an oil-backed digital currency under the control of the nation’s central bank, a host of sovereign cryptocurrency products have emerged. For some nations, it is a ploy to circumvent sanctions but, for others, it could provide an important piece of future infrastructure for blockchain based settlement.

Venezuela’s cryptocurrency plans were met with a dismissive reaction from Lat Am bond market participants this week, who questioned the value of any currency issued by the defaulting government.

Venezuela has become the first sovereign nation to launch a cryptocurrency. While few outside Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s administration are impressed by the pioneering venture, others are expected to follow suit nonetheless, write Lewis McLellan, Costas Mourselas and Oliver West.

Bankers observing South American development bank CAF’s return to euro markets on Tuesday suggested that the multilateral had done well to push through equity market volatility with its largest ever euro deal.

South American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) is due to price its first benchmark of 2018 after announcing initial price thoughts for a euro-denominated seven year.

The co-founder of emerging markets broker Torino Capital has joined a hedge fund as portfolio manager — just over half a year after he left the business he built.

Corporacion Andina de Fomento tapped its September 2027 Kangaroo line on Tuesday, the first increase since it opened the line in March.

Coupon payments on Venezuela, PDVSA and Electricidad de Caracas (Elecar) trickled in late this week, leaving markets feeling calmer after an unconstructive but scare-free meeting between the government and a small number of bondholders.

Despite the end of the year fast approaching, and Venezuela’s debt saga challenging buy-side patience, investors have at least one more major test with Nigeria marketing the first sub-Saharan African 30 year sovereign bond away from South Africa.

Those hoping that Monday would bring clarity to the confusion surrounding Venezuela’s debt situation were out of luck as a meeting between the government and some bondholders offered no clues as to the country’s strategy.

Investors and bond market analysts said that PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, was on the verge of a messy default after making its latest principal payment nearly a week late and in various stages.

The more we learn, the less we know about what happens next when it comes to Venezuelan debt.