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A group of around six banks is forming a $150m fundraising for KorAm Bank. Details are being finalised, with pricing expected to range between 10bp and 20bp. KorAm last came to the market in May with an HK$800m 364 day term loan arranged by Commerzbank, Crédit Lyonnais, and Standard Chartered. Banks earned a margin of 18bp over Hibor and a top participation fee of 12bp.

EuroWeek understands that BNP Paribas and Citigroup/SSSB will today (Friday) launch the Eu1.34bn of senior debt facilities backing the Eu1.6bn 64% buy-out of French broadcaster Télédiffusion de France (TdF) from France Télécom by Charterhouse Capital Development, CDC IXIS Equity Capital and Caisse des Despots. Institutions invited to sub-underwrite the deal can expect invitations to offer two levels of commitments.

Guarantor: TotalFinaElf SA Rating: Aa2/AA

The mandate to arrange the $300m one year term loan for Akbank was awarded yesterday (Thursday). The deal was also launched yesterday. In total 21 banks have been mandated to arrange the facility. They are ABN Amro, Alpha Bank, American Express Bank, Bank of New York, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Citigroup/SSSB (bookrunner), Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank (bookrunner), Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, HVB Group, ING (signing and press), Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein, Natexis Banques Populaires, The National Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo, UFJ, Wachovia Bank, National Association and WestLB (bookrunner).

After a two week delay, Marconi has finally reached a restructuring agreement with its creditors. Through a debt for equity swap, Marconi's debt will be reduced from £4.9bn to £300m and the company will be left with £635m of working capital.

After having successfully completed the initial sub-underwriting phase of the Eu2.222bn senior secured credit facilities backing Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Wendel Investissement's buy-out of Legrand from Schneider, arrangers Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers and Royal Bank of Scotland have launched the facilities into the second round of senior syndication. Yesterday morning (Thursday), a group of 24 banks and institutions were invited to commit to the deal as co-arrangers taking a sub-underwriting ticket of Eu100m with a projected final hold of around Eu65m. The 125bp fee is split between a 30bp underwriting fee and a 95bp participation fee.

Trading in yen totalled just over $1bn, the same total as last week, although the number of deals was higher CDC IXIS Capital Markets, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) were all active, closing seven trades each. EBRD pushed through the most volume. The borrower's biggest deal was a ¥3.1bn 25 year note via Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe. The trade is an FX/currency linked hybrid that pays an annual coupon of 4% until September 10, 2003. Thereafter interest is linked to the yen/dollar exchange rate.

Compiled by Richard Favis RBC Capital Markets, Johannesburg

The market tone continued to improve this week. The Republic of Italy led the way with a $3bn five year bond, completing its dollar benchmark issuance for the year. But, after speculation that triple-A borrowers might rush to the dollar market to take advantage of the build-up of cash during the recent turbulence, some bankers are sceptical about the size of the pipeline.

Is it nearly time to start passing round the hat for Cazenove plc? Once upon a time the tentacles of Cazenove reached into every major boardroom in the UK. Caz was the City's answer to royalty. When a whisper went around the old Stock Exchange trading floor that Caz was buying, bone-button clerks rushed to their phones. Would that we could turn the clocks back 30 years, because the present Cazenove is a shadow of its former influence and glory. We haven't quite reached the stage where you may see a dishevelled person sitting outside a tube station with a placard, "Buddy, can you spare a dime for an old Cazenove soldier," but in these difficult times almost anything is possible.

Can it really be true that Sandy Weill, the dynamic chairman and CEO of Citigroup, is thinking about writing an autobiography? Of course this would make a fascinating story and we would all love to read the chapter, which he would have to add, on the resignation of Jack Grubman. But Sandy should be aware that putting pen to paper can occasionally backfire or prove to be unlucky. For proof, look no further than Jack Welch of General Electric, whose desperately dull tome earned him more millions. However, since its publication, GE's share price has dropped like a stone and Neutron Jack's former golden halo has been used for target practice at Coney Island fairground. Of course, there's no connection, but the timing of Jack's book has acted like a curse on the company with which his name became synonymous. While Citigroup is under siege, and even Sandy Weill has had to take his turn on the wall to hold back the barbarians at the gates, perhaps he should devote more time to running the bank. From its peak, the market capitalisation of Citigroup has tumbled by no less than $80bn, which is a large black hole by any standard. Repairing the damage to Citigroup's share price should be Sandy's first priority rather than the drafting of a manuscript. However, if The Life and Times of Sandy Weill does appear in print, we can't wait to read about the early days on Wall Street when there was a firm called Carter Berlind Weill & Levitt. Did the organisation cover itself in glory? No doubt Sandy will reveal all.

Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank has doubled the size of its debt issuance programme to Eu4bn. ABN Amro has been dropped from the dealer panel and Morgan Stanley has been added. The programme, which was signed in March 1999, via Deutsche Bank, has $1.8bn outstanding from 76 trades.