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Volumes were highest in dollars this week with more than $1.66bn issued from 82 notes, a 35% share of the market. ING Groep was the busiest among the issuers here, coming with three notes for $207m, a 12% share of the market. Two of the trades were for $5m and $2m respectively, but the issuer also came with a $200m note that matures in April 2006.

Argentine bonds enjoyed a flurry of buying activity this week on hopes that market-friendly candidates will be victorious in this Sunday's first round of presidential elections. Polls yesterday (Thursday) showed that the governor of the Province of Santa Cruz, Nestor Kirchner, former president Carlos Menem and ex-economy minister Ricardo Lopez Murphy were all tied in the lead, meaning that Argentina will almost certainly have to hold a second round of votes on May 18 - the first time its election has been a two stage contest since the end of military rule in 1983.

In a short week for many in the EuroMTN market, following the UK bank holiday, issuance plummeted. Volumes were down to $4.7bn from $9.5bn over the previous seven days with the number of notes issued falling by nearly 140 to just 272. There were also changes to issuance patterns with the dollar narrowly overtaking the euro as the dominant currency in terms of volumes.

The A$1.25bn 15 year fundraising for the Westlink Sydney Orbital Project, arranged by BA Asia, National Australia Bank, RBS Australia and WestLB, will close next week after a successful foray into the market. Five or six banks have committed and details are being finalised. Proceeds are for the construction of the 39km Western Sydney Orbital road project that will link Hume Highway, south Sydney, with the Pennant Hills road and the F3 Freeway in the north of Sydney.

Rating: Aa3/AA-/AA- Amount: $125m (fungible with $350m issue launched 25/03/03)

Rating: A2/A+ Amount: Eu50m (fungible with Eu100m issue launched 02/04/03)

Deutsche Bank, Fortis, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland have been mandated to arrange financing supporting the demerger and restructuring of Etex Group SA and its parent Fineter SA. An extraordinary general meeting will be held on May 28 for shareholder approval of plans to initially merge Etex and Fineter and to subsequently demerge the entity into two independent businesses. One business will focus on plastics and be called Aliaxis, while the second Etex Group, will focus on roofs and boards.

Amount: Eu250m (fungible with Eu750m issue launched 28/01/03) Hypothekenpfandbrief series 82 Maturity: February 7, 2005