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Lloyds TSB has sole underwritten a $300m debt facility backing Smith & Nephew's (S&N) $310m cash offer for US based Oratec. The mandate for the loan was signed on Tuesday and S&N announced its acquisition yesterday (Thursday). It is expected that the $300m credit will be taken out at a later stage with a longer syndicated facility targeted at selected relationship banks.

Diminishing volumes because of a drop in M&A and a shaky telecoms sector challenged the loan market in 2001. At the end of last year, loan bankers were confident that with an improved economic environment volumes would increase in 2002. However, with daily credit scares and profit warnings, M&A volumes show no sign of returning to the levels of 1999 and 2000, and the TMT sector has not yet stabilised. This week EuroWeek conducted a straw poll of syndication bankers at the top 12 loan houses in London to reveal what attitudes persist in the first two months of 2002.

Merrill Lynch has made three senior appointments to its global foreign exchange business, which the firm identified at the beginning of the year as one for investment and expansion. William Shek, the former head of Asian currency trading at Goldman Sachs, will join the Hong Kong office on March 1 with the same title of head of currency trading.

Oman The details of the $1bn Oman India Fertiliser Company (Omifco) project are being finalised ahead of the launch of syndication, which is expected in the next two weeks.

Croatian food and retail conglomerate Agrokor has set out on a European roadshow for its Eu150m-Eu200m five year bond via Credit Suisse First Boston, but launch of the deal is likely to be held up by four to six months while a possible downgrade by Moody's is clarified. The roadshow follows the resurrection of Agrokor's Eurobond ambitions, first reported by EuroWeek over a month ago, after it aborted an Eu150m offering planned in 2000 via UBS Warburg.

* A former research head at Merrill Lynch, Charles Lambert, is moving behind the scenes to Research Summary, a knowledge management company that enables clients to pool investment research. Lambert was a chemicals analyst with Smith New Court before Merrill Lynch acquired the firm in 1995. He had worked his way up to head of EMEA research and global co-head of equity research before announcing his departure at the end of last year. "I just felt like a change," he told EuroWeek.

* European Investment Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Romania A shortlist of banks to lead the Republic of Romania's Eu500m-Eu750m 10 year Eurobond is expected to emerge today (Friday). The Romanians had been promising bankers word by late yesterday (Thursday), but has made them wait one more day. Bankers in London said that judging by past record, Romania may not decide until next week or later.

Trading in other currencies is picking up. Fifteen trades were closed in other currencies after the return of the Hong Kong dollar market. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten issued one of the largest trades in the sector: a Nkr400 million ($44.95 million) five-year note that pays a coupon of 6.5%. The trade was led by Deutsche Bank and was issued at a price of 101.815%. Deutsche Bank was also busy for Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank and led the issuer's Kr750 million ($20.56 million) MTN that reaches out to March 2007. The note offers a coupon of 5% and was issued at a price of 100.995%. Eksportfinans closed the day's only South African rand trade: a Z100 million three-year note that will be issued on March 5 2002. The note, which was led by Toronto Dominion Securities, was issued at a price of 97.935% and offers an annual coupon of 10%. NIB Capital Bank found opportunities in Swedish krona. The issuer closed a Skr130 million ($12.37 million) six-month trade that will be issued on February 21 2002.

* World Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

The credit market's reaction to Enronesque accounting risk is lunacy, because the risks have always been there. This is the sanguine view of John Lupton, European high yield fund manager at WestAM. "If you can't understand a company, you shouldn't lend it money," he said. "If unfounded nervousness over accounting leads to weakness in a good credit, this provides a much sought-after buying opportunity."

* Westfälische Hypothekenbank AG Rating: Aaa