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Formosa Development Corp, a subsidiary of Formosa group, has awarded a mandate for a NT$6bn three year fundraising to China Development Industrial Bank. The facility is divided between a NT$3.8bn tranche and a NT$2.2bn portion. Both segments pay a margin of 75bp over the CEPD rate and a participation fee of 5bp.

Amount: Eu185m Rating: Fitch and Standard&Poor's

Dollar and euro swap spreads plumbed new depths this week and are now at levels lower than even the most grizzled market veterans can remember. New issues dominated the week and swap spreads have been brought low by a wave of swap-driven issuance. By the close of trading yesterday (Thursday) the five year dollar swap spread was at around 38.5bp over Treasuries and the 10 year was at 37.5bp. Swap spreads in this currency have dropped about 10bp over the course of the last month or so.

A shortlist of up to 15 banks is being drawn up to bid on the debt financing for the Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project. Financial adviser on the pipeline, Lazard, has sought firm expressions of interest from banks on the $1.6bn project - particularly with respect to underwriting appetite.

UBS Warburg told EuroWeek yesterday (Thursday) that it had managed to sell the largest block trade in the financial sector for 10 years and produced Eu2.8bn of league table business out of a Eu1.8bn sale of Fortis stock by Suez (see story above). Suez had sold UBS Warburg 120m shares in Fortis, of which 50m was placed as a block trade and 70m used as underlying stock for a mandatory convertible. But UBS Warburg increased the 50m block by 56m shares to create a delta hedge for accounts buying into the Eu1.19bn mandatory.

Brazilian private sector issuers continued to expand maturity and squeeze yields this week with banks Unibanco and Votorantim looking to price bonds at tightest-yet levels. Unibanco is self-leading a minimum $50m 18 month issue, its longest tenor this year, at yield talk of 5.75%-6.00%, well inside the 6.5% yield Banespa achieved just last week on its 18 month note.

Amount: Eu2.2bn Legal maturity: October 28, 2027

Amount: Eu79.36m Rating: Aaa/AAA

Guarantor: Volvo AB Rating: A3

Trades in the one to three year tenor were once again the market's most popular this week as investors chose to keep their cash in the short end. The over ten year maturity was also strong but many of these trades were callable after a year. Despite a fall in demand over the last seven days for euros, the currency was by far the most popular in the one to three year term, taking a 67% market share with over $1.33bn traded. However, only 15 notes were issued in euros in this tenor, against 18 for just $232m in yen. UK borrowers were prevalent in euros with two financials issuing the market's greatest volumes in this tenor. Abbey National led the field with two Eu210m notes. One of these was a trade led by Morgan Stanley that pays a coupon of 2bp over three month Euribor and matures in April 2005.