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Citigroup/SSB has made another push to improve its Asia Pacific equity research, taking Ajay Kapur and his two person regional equity strategy team from Morgan Stanley. Kapur has been made a managing director, heading up Citigroup/SSB's Asia regional strategy research and co-ordinating the bank's Pacific Rim strategy research, which includes Australia and Japan.

* Deutsche Bank has hired Raymond Tam from Lehman Brothers as a director on its Asia equity sales desk in New York. Tam, who now reports to head of Asian equity sales Ray Kim, joined Lehman in 1999 after seven years with HSBC.

Italy Ferrari confirmed this week that it was keen to gain a stock market listing.

Investors flocked to Italian residential mortgage backed paper this week as three repeat issuers returned to market. Bipop-Carire, Banca Carige and Banca Popolare di Bergamo came back to the market in quick succession. Even as the last of the deals, Bipop Carire, closed, the market was bracing itself for two further issues today (Friday) from Banca Popolare dell'Etruria e del Lazio Scarl and Unipol Banca, via UBS Warburg and ABN Amro, respectively.

Banco di Sicilia, a member of the Banca di Roma group, last week (Friday) launched a Eu345m securitisation of non-performing loans (NPL) via Morgan Stanley and MedioCredito Centrale. Island Finance 2, the seventh in Morgan Stanley's International Credit Recovery NPL programme, was plagued just before launch by the placing of five tranches from an earlier deal in the series, ICR5, on review for possible downgrade due to the portfolio's poor performance. A Moody's official noted that current collections were at 26% of the projected recoveries.

The one-horse race to acquire Nomura's Voyager and Unique pub estates ended this week as a consortium of private equity investors comprising Enterprise Inns, Morgan Stanley's Princes Gate, Legal & General and Cinven bought the properties for £2bn. The result surprised few in the market after Punch Group, the only other competitor, withdrew its £1.9bn offer earlier in the week, reportedly balking at Nomura's £2bn asking price.

FCE Bank, the European arm of Ford Motor Credit, this week launched the second issue from Ford's international securitisation programme Globaldrive BV. The Eu800m transaction, lead managed by ABN Amro, Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank, parcelled 145,000 car loans to German individuals and companies, originated by Ford Bank, FCE Bank's German branch.

Three UK Home Office towers in Marsham Street, London, known affectionately as the "three ugly sisters", are to be demolished and a new office block built. Under the UK Private Finance Initiative (PFI), the project is being refinanced through an Ambac-wrapped £274.22m bond via Barclays Capital and RBC Capital Markets this week. Two tranches of notes were issued by Anne's Gate Property plc (AGP), majority owned by HSBC Infrastructure Ltd. A £174.22m index-linked tranche starts to amortise in March 2006 with an average life of 15.5 years and a legal maturity of March 2030. The notes were priced above par with a 3.237% coupon and spread of 65bp over index-linked Gilts. Some £30m of this tranche is being held by the issuer, but may be sold on for additional funding in the future.

Electricité de France (EdF) brought its subsidised employee home loans back to the securitisation market this week with a Eu499.28m deal led by Merrill Lynch. EdF and fellow state owned utility Gaz de France (GdF) operate a joint lending programme to help employees to buy homes. Whichever company the borrower works for, EdF finances 82% of each loan and GdF the balance.

Everton is the latest UK football club to turn to the asset backed market for financing, with the launch of a £30m securitisation backed by current and future season ticket receivables yesterday (Thursday). Lead managed by Bear Stearns, the deal was sold privately. It is believed that two European investors bought the 25 year fixed rate notes. It has been a difficult period for the Liverpool-based club on the pitch. After Everton was knocked out of the FA Cup in a 3-0 defeat by Middlesbrough in the sixth round earlier this month, manager Walter Smith was replaced.

Iccrea Banca, the central bank for Italy's co-operative system, this week launched an Eu890m collateralised bond obligation in an unusual club funding structure for 117 co-operative banks - Banche di Credito Cooperativo (BCC) - across Italy. Arranged by Merrill Lynch and Iccrea, the deal is designed to provide the Italian cooperative system with off-balance sheet access to the international capital markets.

Despite only featuring on the edge of investors' radar screens, Iceland has a surprisingly buoyant capital market. Good news is flowing across a range of businesses: ECM, bonds and foreign M&A - and there is plenty of reform to keep things moving. The challenge now is to attract the attention of overseas buyers, as Guy Norton finds out.