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On March 21 2001, MTNWeek hosted its Awards 2001 dinner in the Hyatt Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge. A detailed description of the decisions that were made and the imbibing that followed will be available later today. Best new Euro-MTN borrower 2001: Kommunalbanken Best Euro-MTN borrower 2001: Svensk Exportkredit Best new Euro-CP borrower 2001: Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank Most enterprising Euro-MTN house 2001: Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Most enterprising Euro-CP house 2001: Goldman Sachs Best IPA for Euro-MTNs 2001: Deutsche Bank Best IPA for Euro-CPs 2001: Citibank Best Euro-CP house 2001: Deutsche Bank Best Euro-MTN house 2001: Merrill Lynch Star of the Leak table 2001: Gavin Eddy

Croatia The IMF has officially approved a $255m standby credit for the Republic of Croatia.

Finland Metsa-Serla, the Finnish pulp and paper company, is attracting some good interest for its Eu300m equity issue, led by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. There are six or seven investors already in the book with another 10 days of bookbuilding to go. There has been a lot of interest from the UK and US.

UK mortgage bank Northern Rock launched its fourth and largest securitisation last Friday, with a £1.5bn deal that included global bonds for the first time. Lead managed by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, the transaction blew out as investors starved of European asset backed paper snapped up bonds from an issuer that has won a widespread following in the last two years.

* GMAC International Finance BV Guarantor: General Motors Acceptance Corp

The equity markets put participants through yet more pain this week, as stock prices across the globe reacted viciously to the US Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates by 50bp. The Nasdaq fell 4.8% on Tuesday, when the announcement was made, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2.4%. The bad sentiment continued throughout the week, with the FTSE 100 and the Dax 30 indices both losing more than 4% yesterday (Thursday).

* Allgemeine Hypothekenbank AG Rating: Aa2/AAA/AA+

Wind turbine manufacturer Nordex launched what could be the Neuer Markt's biggest IPO of 2001 into hideous market conditions this week. The deal will struggle to swim upstream as stock prices on the high growth exchange flow steadily down. Bookbuilding for the Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein led issue began on Tuesday and will close on March 30. By yesterday (Thursday) the Nemax 50 index had reached another all-time low of 1,422.85. "There is no buying interest at all," said a Neuer Markt fund manager in Frankfurt.

* European Investment Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Nordex was forced to cut the price range for its Neuer Markt IPO by 18% today (Monday), taking the amount set to be raised down to Eu370m at the middle of the range, with investors continuing to demand weighty discounts to compensate for market volatility.

The Russian oil and gas sector is attracting attention this week with two loans signed and another launched into the market. HypoVereinsbank has signed banks into the Eu250m five year term loan for Gazprom, the Russian oil and gas company.

Banca Carige, a retail bank based in the region of Liguria in northwest Italy, launched its first securitisation this week with a Eu166.5m deal backed by its non-performing mortgages and loans. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston, the transaction used a structure whereby the junior tranche was collateralised with Eu84.4m of Italian government bonds provided by Carige.