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Nordic borrowers have been forced to accept that their loan market has changed. Banks' shareholders are demanding better returns from loan portfolios and the traditional discounts enjoyed by Nordic corporates are disappearing. At the same time, they are seeing financial covenants creeping into loan structures and maturities shrink from seven years to five. Ruth Lavelle reports on a market coming into line with the rest of Europe.

2002 is set to be another strong year for the Norwegian krone market and, if the forecasts by the leading houses are to be believed, it will be an even better year for the Swedish krona. Anousha Sakoui talks to bankers and analysts in the region about how these currency trends will drive bond volumes.

Iceland's biggest listed company, Islandsbanki, is broadening its horizons. The bank is diversifying its asset base and portfolio, and has found in the international bond markets a new pool of investors. Guy Norton reports on the firm's plans to cast its net even further, by issuing in new currencies and finding buyers in sunnier regions.

Credits in the process of reorganizing, namely Owens Corning, Safety-Kleen and Dade Behring, got a boost this week as investors saw an upside to each name. Owens Corning started with a $20-25 million trade at 70 on Monday as market players speculate on subsidiary guarantees on the bank debt as the company works through bankruptcy. The name ticked up to 71 by midweek with roughly $10 million more changing hands. Safety-Kleen climbed up further this week with roughly $30 million trading up to 40 from a 33 level last week. Dealers believe the company may soon benefit from pending litigation.

ABN AMRO has hired Matt Chauvel, credit-default swaps trader at Gen Re Securities, in a similar position. He will report to Arne Groes, head of credit derivatives in London. Groes confirmed the move but declined further comment.

Kevin Rogers, global head of fx options at Deutsche Bank in London, has been named head of correlation trading and commodities in London. The position was created in an effort to boost the commodities department, according to an insider. Rogers declined comment.

Salomon Smith Barney has hired Dan Breen, a private tax consultant, as a managing director in its equity derivatives division in New York. Breen, who has 20-years of equity derivatives experience, has been working as a consultant since leaving Bankers Trust when it was bought by Deutsche Bank in 1999. He will report to Len Ellis, head of structured equity product sales in New York. Ellis said Breen will focus on structuring tax efficient equity derivatives products, but declined further comment. Breen could not be reached for comment.

Bank of America and Credit Suisse First Boston's credit for dialysis provider, DaVita Inc., will be shown to investors today in Los Angeles and on Friday in New York to a buyside eager to jump in on the huge $800 million "B" piece. "They're bumping up the leverage, but they generate so much cash flow and they plan to continue to pay down debt," said one buysider who is looking to invest in the seven-year term loan "B" at pricing of LIBOR plus 3 1/4%. Rich Whitney, cfo at DaVita, is otptimistic that interest in the name will generate enough orders to potentially result in a reverse flex on the deal. "There's a good chance they'll be a flex down," he said, regarding positive buzz on the credit.

Barclays Capital Asia is looking to issue its first synthetic collateralized debt obligation in Asia on the back of a recent push into the regional credit market, according to Rick Ng, director and head of sales for fixed income and structured products in Hong Kong.

SNCB, the Belgian railroad operator, has entered a 10-year exotic interest-rate swap to hedge itself against movements in six-month Euribor. Johan Verhoeven, head of back office at the treasury in Brussels, said the state-owned company often converts fixed-rate bond offerings into floating-rate liabilities and so wanted to go an extra step and hedge its floating-rate exposure. It entered the EUR75 million (USD66 million) notional swap with a German bank, which he declined to name.

Hedge funds in Asia plan to step up their convertible arbitrage activity in light of a flood of expected convertible bonds issues in the coming months, according to hedge fund managers.