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Argentina JP Morgan and HSBC Securities are in the market with a $150m one year US CP back-up facility for HSBC Bank Argentina SA. The deal renews a $200m LC facility signed in June 2000 that was arranged by the same banks.

Annemarie Ganatra, of HSBC's MTN desk, has seen her world go Per-shaped. A major event has occurred that has shoved her well out of the 'market'. But she hasn't pulled herself away from MTNs, she has found herself a Danish boyfriend - called Per. Annemarie, considered the hottest property in the market, now spends all her spare time cooking romantic meals and staring dreamily at the trades flicking past on her screen. Fergus Kiely must be regretting the day he sent her out for some pastries. No doubt the issuer parties this summer won't be as much fun with Annemarie out of the market. Dealers are already wondering what treat SEK has in store this year. Leak hopes that SEK's Ulrika Bohlin will at least hit the dance floor again. Last year it was a mystery tour that started in Stockholm and ended up somewhere near the North Pole. And no doubt dealers are already salivating at the thought of Islandsbanki-FBA's next party. Thankfully the pickled-shark event has come and gone; the worry is that the next one will be even 'tastier'. As long as there's plenty of Brennivin, Ingvar, no one will mind.

The Latin American new issue market picked up slightly today (Wednesday) as borrowers moved to take advantage of optimism that Argentina’s pending $15bn-$20bn debt swap will be successful.

Lehman Brothers (Lehman) has signed a $10 billion Euro-MTN facility under the name Anthracite Rated Investments. Lehman is the sole arranger and dealer. It is the second SPV that Lehman has signed in the last five years. Its last facility came in July 2000 under the name of Marble Finance. The $5 billion shelf has $411.14 million outstanding off 26 issues. Anthracite Rated Investments is the fourth SPV to come to the market this year. The most recent addition came three weeks ago from Bank of America. The $5 billion SPV was signed under the name of Helix Capital. The other programmes signed this year were CIBC's Piccadilly Finance, Credit Suisse First Boston's (CSFB) New York Life Funding and Morgan Stanley's Spices Finance. CSFB's Aa1 rated facility was the first rated shelf to come to the market in 12 months. All of this year's facilities have yet to issue their first trades.

* Den norske Bank AS Rating: A1/A/A+

Bond markets received a boost on Tuesday from the US Federal Reserve's latest 50bp cut in interest rates, sparking fresh supply from a host of corporate borrowers. Issuance on both sides of the Atlantic picked up after the Fed meeting as corporates hastened to take advantage of the cheaper borrowing available through the lower rates.

Austria ABN Amro, Citibank/SSSB and JP Morgan have launched general syndication for the Eu800m loan for Sappi Papier Holding. A bank meeting was held yesterday (Thursday).

* Merrill Lynch & Co Rating: Aa3/AA-/AA

Degussa, the world's biggest specialty chemicals maker, has mandated Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg to run the IPO of its cancer research unit Zentaris. Zentaris' value has not yet been set but it will be listed on the Neuer Markt around June 18. The announcement was made at Degussa's annual general meeting in Düsseldorf, where it said that it expected Ebitda for 2001 to rise more than 10% in core businesses.

How long have you been in MTNs? Landsvirkjun was the first Icelandic entity to establish an EMTN programme back in 1998. We originally started with a $500 million programme which we increased to $1 billion last year. I've been actively involved in the MTN market since we started the programme but before that I was heading our funding in both the bank market and capital markets. The programme has worked very well which is best demonstrated by the fact that nearly all of our funding is now done through privately placed MTNs. What is your favourite part of the job? This is a people business and that's the part I like most. You get to meet, do business with and compare strategies with lots of talented professionals of many different nationalities. It is clearly important to have a good relationship with the dealer community. However, I think that contacts with other issuers should not be underestimated because you as an issuer can always improve your practices. I'm basically saying that the MTN conferences work. Finally, I know from painful experience that most of the above professionals know how to have a good time. That's essential as well. Who is your favourite dealer of the month? None. I haven't done a trade so far this month despite my generous levels. Dealers please take notice. What has been the most interesting trade you've seen in the last few months? The most interesting trade for us is a highly structured $40 million trade we did last year. This is a 15-year bullet trade which we got at reasonably deep sub-libor levels which is not bad for an Aa3 credit. However, due to the complexity of the trade we had to analyze the structure for two or three weeks before we were prepared to do it. What do you think will be the most important trend in the next quarter? I heard from a dealer the other day that Landsvirkjun is being seen as a safe-haven issuer. Who would have imagined anybody saying this a few years ago? This may of course be somewhat exaggerated, but it demonstrates a trend where quite a few of the quality issuers of the past are not so hot anymore due to either over-supply of paper or rating downgrades. I think this will continue, i.e. there will continue to be strong demand for good credits in the market regardless of size. What annoys you most about the market? The fact that there are many issuers out there that are larger, better-rated and are getting better levels than we are. And there is practically nothing I can do about it. Which of your competitors do you admire most and why? I have great respect for a number of our competitors. Clearly some of the bigger Scandinavian issuers such as SEK have done an excellent job of getting the most out of the MTN market. One could argue, however, that they are in a preferred position given their size and strong ratings. That's why I respect just as much lower-rated issuers who have achieved remarkable results. Names that spring to mind are SNS Bank in the Netherlands and the Icelandic Investment Bank, both of which have successfully marketed their name to the investor community. If you weren't an MTN dealer, what would you be? That's a tough one. I wouldn't mind being in politics actually. The problem is I can't afford it. What car do you or would you like to drive? I currently drive a 4WD Subaru Legacy which is useful given winter conditions in Iceland. I would, however, love to drive a Mercedes 500SL in the summer and a modified Toyota Landcruiser in the winter if I had the choice. What's your favourite restaurant? I like unusual restaurants more than the big and trendy Mezzo type places. I went to an excellent restaurant in Paris last summer. It is called Le Relhis de Venise. They serve only one main course, meat, and there is a queue for a table every night. I can generally recommend the restaurants in Reykjavik and if you are travelling here you should try Restaurant Einar Ben. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Reckitt & Benckiser has re-launched its $250 million Euro-CP programme. The limit of the shelf has been upped to $750 million. NatWest Global Financial Markets has been dropped as the arranger and Deutsche Bank replaces it. NatWest Global Financial Markets and Barclays Capital have been dropped as dealers and BNP Paribas replaces them. Moody's and Standard & Poor's rate the shelf P-1/A-1.

Reuters is to launch an internet trading site for CP and it announced yesterday the appointment of Jim Perrello, formerly a CP trader at Goldman Sachs, as chief executive officer of the project. The site, called Reuters Liquid Markets, will offer a platform for trading CP, CD and other money market bonds. No date has been set for the launch, but a spokesperson at Reuters expects the launch towards the end of this year. John Ford, Euro-CP product manager at Deutsche Bank, and chairman of the Euro-CP Association, says: "Investors are keen to see information in the easiest possible format so this will definitely help, and they are increasingly prepared to transact over the internet." Issuers, investors and dealers will be able to use the site for information and to transact online. Three other sites offer a CP transaction service: Prescient Markets' cpmarket.com, TradeWeb and Bloomberg. But Perrello says: "We are slightly different in that we will offer a complete solution - the market constituents need information, tools and analytics to allow them to communicate more effectively. So our approach is to service all these aspects as well as transactions." Ford, at Deutsche Bank says: "These platforms could put a question mark over the future role of sales people, but even if the whole market moved to electronic trading you would still need someone to sell the platform and give advice to the investors." Perrello adds: "The site needs to have the backing of the dealer community and it is not a disintermediating platform. It will give people more time to think and develop relationships. I know the dealer community has received it very well." Reuters cannot confirm which dealers have committed to the site. It has not disclosed details of how the product will charge its clients, but it is thought that it will be by subscription. Ford comments: "The challenge is that the system has to be easier than picking up the phone."