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Deutsche Bank and Citigroup/ Salomon Smith Barney emerged this week as the winners of the hotly contested mandate for a $500m three to five year global bond issue for Chile. The real battle, however, now begins, as the underwriters try to determine where Chile should price at the short end of the dollar curve.

The lure of a strong local bid and a solid credit profile this week helped El Salvador achieve its best pricing yet in the international capital markets, with a $500m 30 year Euro/144a issue pricing just 17bp back of higher rated Mexico. Originally expected to be $300m, the offering, lead managed by CSFB and Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney, was increased and priced at the tight end of its range after attracting a three to four times oversubscription.

El Salvador * Republic of El Salvador

Royal Dutch/Shell this week announced its proposed takeover of Enterprise Oil for a cash offer of 725p per Enterprise share. Shell will take on £800m of Enterprise debt alongside its £3.5bn bid for Enterprise's equity - which values Enterprise at a total of £4.3bn.

* Aprilia Lux SA Guarantor: Aprilia SpA

* Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel Rating: A+

Securitisation specialists have begun to digest the surprise announcement two weeks ago from Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, that it planned to lay down hard rules for state securitisation accounting treatment in July. The move threatens to undermine one of the chief motivations for states to securitise - that EU governments can reduce debt to GDP ratios towards the target levels prescribed by the Maastricht treaty by using securitisation instead of normal borrowing.

Twenty-two euro trades were closed, but volumes on the whole were small. Just two borrowers went out over euro100 million ($87.97 million). International Bank for Reconstruction & Development traded the largest note - for euro415 million. The trade was led by Nomura and pays a semi-annual coupon of 3.850%. It matures on April 12 2005. French corporate, Entenial, did an 18-month euro200 million note via Credit Agricole Indosuez. It pays a coupon of 3m Euribor +12.5 basis points. Fellow French borrower, Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais, closed a euro50 million deal. The note goes out 10 years and was led by Salomon Smith Barney (SSB). SSB also led a one-year euro39.70 million deal for Linde Finance. Hypo Tirol Bank was the most active borrower in the euro market. It closed two euro50 million notes and also did a euro40 million trade. All three notes go out five years but carry different interest payment frequencies. And Hitachi Finance (UK) closed a euro10 million deal via Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe. The note matures in August of this year and pays a coupon of 3.100%.

According to a recent trading consultancy report, around half of US fund managers with over $1bn of assets under management do not use electronic order management systems, despite the widespread availability of such technology. Furthermore, 40% perform manual intervention for passing trades from portfolio manager to trader. However, investing in a customised and integrated electronic order management system is a prerequisite for any fund manager wishing to understand and minimise transaction costs, says Barry Marshall, chief operating officer in UK fund manager Gartmore's investment division.

International Lease Finance Corp, the world's largest lessor of third stage aircraft, is planning to launch a multi-currency two tranche bond denominated in euros and sterling. The deal will test investor appetite for airline related securities after September 11 and the subsequent downturn in the industry. It will be the first combined euro and sterling bond by a finance company and ILFC's second visit to the euro market, its first having been in 1999. Roadshows will start on April 8 and the company will visit the major financial centres in Europe to update investors on how the airline industry has changed as a result of the terror attacks.