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Rating: Baa2/BB- Amount: $125m

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: £100m

The government of Belize made its debut in the global bond markets with a $125m 10 year deal, the only Latin bond to come to market this week. The deal was priced to yield 9.65%, offering a pick-up over a recent 10 year deal issued by comparably rated BB- Grenada that was trading around 9.25% at the time of pricing.

The government of Belize made its debut in the global bond markets with a $125m 10 year deal, the only Latin bond to come to market this week. The deal was priced to yield 9.65%, offering a pick-up over a recent 10 year deal issued by comparably rated BB- Grenada that was trading around 9.25% at the time of pricing.

Rating: A3/A- Amount: Ck240m (increase to Ck500m launched 08/08/02)

BNP Paribas, HSBC CCF and Royal Bank of Scotland have won the mandate to provide a Eu3bn acquisition facility backing French real estate company Gecina's Eu2.33bn takeover of Simco. This is the first acquisition financing that the loan market has seen after a quiet few months and bankers are hopeful that it is a sign that European M&A activity is starting to pick up.

Barclays Capital has hired Andrew Whittle, senior managing director of credit derivatives at Bear Stearns in London, as its European head of credit derivatives. This is a new role as previously the European credit derivatives team had reported directly to Vince Balducci, global head of risk finance in New York, according to a firm spokesman.

As the structured finance markets snoozes its way through August, the September pipeline is silently growing and promises an action packed month. Issuance in the first half of the year is slightly down on that of the same period last year, according to the European Securitisation Forum (ESF). Some Eu60.7bn of issuance is reported so far, 6.3% less than last year.

Dee Valley Water will today (Friday) launch a £35m structured bond via RBS Financial Markets to finance a share buyback scheme and reduce its cost of funding. Issued through Artesian Finance, an RBS vehicle, and wrapped by Financial Security Assurance (FSA), the deal highlights the demand for structured debt across the UK water sector as an alternative to equity and conventional debt finance, after larger corporate restructurings such as Anglian Water Services £1.76bn bond in July.

Bank of America has hired Tony Kay, head of non-Japan Asia credit derivatives trading at UBS Warburg in Tokyo, to oversee credit derivatives trading for the region. "He's a top-notch guy," said one market official. Kay is reportedly receiving a two-year guarantee of USD2 million per annum. "This sets a whole new benchmark for the market," the official added. However, another official said, "They're paying over the top." Kay could not be reached for comment.

Secondary market players were not happy about the current downward trend on bank loan prices this week. The whole market is down five to 10 points, one dealer said with a scowl. Conseco bank debt, for example, was said to have slipped from the high 60s to the 60-62 range following a bank call on Tuesday. At least $10 million is believed to have changed hands. The details of the bank meeting could not be ascertained, but the company currently is contemplating strategies for a more aggressive restructuring plan. Calls to the company were not returned by press time.