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Brascan Brazil has signed a $250 million Euro-MTN. The arranger and sole dealer off the programme is Credit Lyonnais Securities (USA). The issuer has already issued its first note off the programme: a two-year $40 million trade that pays a coupon of 10.25%. It is the fifth Brazilian utility to join the MTN market. Two set up programmes last year: LIR Energy and Caiua Servicos de Electricidade. The Brazilian utilities have $615 million of debt outstanding. Brascan Corporation has been active in Brazil since 1899. During the 1950s, when the company was known as Light, it provided over 65% of all electric power and 80% of all telephone services in Brazil.

Improved investor sentiment towards Argentina's economic prospects this week helped the Province of Buenos Aires to add Eu100m to its Eu200m issue launched earlier this month. The offering, led by Caboto-Gruppo Intesa and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, attracted solid demand from European retail investors looking for short dated high yielding Latin paper.

* Province of Ontario Rating: Aa3/AA-

Canadian Wheat Board has sold a 10-year yen trade that pays interest semi-annually. The non-syndicated ¥500 million ($4.27 million) pays a final coupon of 2%. The trade will be issued on February 15 and will be the issuer's third 10-year yen trade of 2001. It has already issued one ¥500 million note that pays a final coupon of 1.5% and a ¥600 million trade that pays a final coupon of 2%.

Marketing will start on Monday for a Eu725m performing MBS issue by Italian mortgage bank Italfondiario. RBS Financial Markets is arranger and will lead manage the deal jointly with Deutsche Bank. Palazzo Finance will be the largest ever Italian MBS issue, with a pool split 75-25 between residential and commercial mortgages. It will offer four tranches of FRNs, of which two will be rated triple-A by Fitch and Standard & Poor's.

Merrill Lynch this week securitised a state backed loan it made to Italian railway operator Treno Alta Velocit (TAV), with the Eu400m debut issue from Cartesio Srl, the bank's new asset backed medium term note programme. Marketing has already started for the second issue, a Eu1bn deal backed by healthcare receivables paid to the Region of Lazio by the Italian government.

Strong market appetite for European residential MBS helped Italian bank Bipop-Carire's Eu590m first public securitisation. ABN Amro was bookrunner. Upgrade SpA was backed by performing first lien residential mortgages originated by Bipop and its subsidiary Fineco Banca.

Despite increased pessimism and downgrades of several collateralised debt obligations, several European arbitrage deals are expected to close this quarter -including the first ever sterling arbitrage vehicle next week. UK-based Prudential M&G is preparing to issue £313m of notes with Panther CDO BV, via Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

Salomon Smith Barney has created a global interest-rate and derivatives products group to put trading under the same roof as structuring to enable the departments to leverage off each other.

A raft of Australian investment management companies, including Royal Sun Alliance and Tyndall Australia, are on the verge of using their first domestic interest-rate swaps. Others, such as BT Funds Management, expect to increase their use of the product. Standard bond indices in the region are shifting to include more floating rate paper, making fund managers keen to better manipulate maturity and yields on corporate bonds in their portfolios.