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Table two: Non-syndicated deals for less than $250m.

RBS has squeezed ahead of Deutsche Bank into fourth place on the structured note private placement table following settlement of its £100m step-up callable for KfW this week, one of five deals the borrower issued two weeks ago. Merrill’s £50m deal for the same package has helped it move up into 14th position.

Barclays Capital is marketing a global synthetic CLO for Prudential Financial. Barclays would not comment on the deal.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s 2007 profits are likely to be ahead of the £9.78bn market consensus, despite a total fourth quarter writedown of £1.5bn.

Participants in a covered bond panel hosted by BNP Paribas at a Euromoney conference in Paris on Tuesday, focused on the advantages of the private placement market, stressing the attractions for issuers and investors when the public market has been so volatile and market-making so problematic.

Way back in the mists of time, Travelers Group, headed by Sandy Weill, merged with Citicorp, led by John Reed.

Sachsen Funding I, the SIV-lite sponsored by SachsenLB, asked investors to extend a waiver request this week, in an attempt to buy more time to work on a possible restructuring.

Table three: Structured, non-syndicated deals for less than $250m excluding financial repackaged SPVs, self-led deals and US GSE issuers.

Private placements meandered towards the end of the year, with public sector and covered bond issuers forming the main part of the flow and structured deals contributing only a trickle. Enquiry remained strong for public sector issuers, said dealers, though many no longer have capacity to fund in 2007 and are starting to request 2008 settlement dates.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority last Friday confirmed its anti-covered bond stance when it released its suite of prudential standards that represent the implementation of Basle II in the country. However, the regulator is becoming increasingly isolated in its position, particularly in light of the dislocations in the residential mortgage backed securities market during this year’s turmoil.

The restructuring of structured investment vehicles gained pace this week as SIV managers attempted either to resuscitate their vehicles or help them to a slow and peaceful death.