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Dollar swap spreads dropped sharply this week. At midday yesterday (Thursday) in New York, the 10 year mid-market was 103.5bp. The week before, the market closed at 114bp. The five year midpoint was yesterday 95bp, also around 10bp tighter on the week. "We have seen continued receiving out of everywhere," said one trader at a money centre bank. A variety of counterparties were hitting bids, including bank portfolios, mortgage books and insurance firms. There was also some new issue related receiving this week, but in general the collapse of spreads is more due to the improved sentiment and greater optimism about credit.

The debt markets rallied this week in response to Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's speech on Tuesday, in which he indicated that interest rates may be set to fall next year. After a long period of rate rises and market uncertainty, Greenspan said that the US economy had cooled, warning instead that a sharp slowdown in growth may become the greatest cause for alarm.

Hamburgische Landesbank, always partial to some long-dated funding, managed to sell a thirty-year trade. The euro16 million ($15.66 million) FRN, paying interest quarterly, has an issue date of February 5 2001 and a maturity date of February 5 2031. The London branch of the Aa1-rated bank acted as the issuer. It is the smallest euro-denominated trade it has issued since May. Since it signed its programme in March 1998, 10.65% of its issuance has been in the 12-years plus part of the curve.

Sun Hung Kai Properties continues to be one of the most frequent coporate issuers to the Hong Kong dollar sector. The HK$100 million ($12.85 million) FRN goes out to December 10 2007 and pays interest quarterly and a final coupon of 7.3%. It has now issued nine Hong Kong dollar notes, raising the equivalent of $211.62 million this year. Other corporates in the currency in 2000 are gics Jackson National, AIG Sun America, John Hancock and Hilton, LVMH, Tele Danmark, GMAC and ETSA Utilities.

Hertz is upping the limit on its $500 million Euro-CP programme to $1 million. The programme, signed in 1997, has $504.58 million outstanding off 12 issues.

IKB Deutsche Industriebank yesterday (Thursday) brought the first CLO under Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau's programme to transfer the risk of German small and medium business loans, with a Eu2.4475bn issue. Merrill Lynch was sole bookrunner for the five tranches of notes issued below a Eu2.235bn super senior credit default swap.

Sol Melia, the Spanish hotel chain, which has been waiting to sign its Euro-MTN programme since August, has made immediate use of the MTN market. It only managed to sign its programme this week, but straight away issued a euro206 million ($179.83 million) zero coupon note, which goes out to March 30 2001.

Goldman Sachs, ING Barings and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter have been awarded the mandate for a $1bn global issue of trust preferred securities by ING Groep's ING Capital Funding Trust III, rated A/Aa3. The SEC registered deal will be a non-cumulative perpetual non-call 10 transaction. Roadshowing finishes today (Friday), and the deal is expected to come to market early next week.

Investors Finance has done its sixth sterling trade of the year: a 29-year £

UniCredito Italia has signed a euro5 billion ($4.46 billion) Euro-MTN programme. UBS Warburg and UniCredit Banca Mobiliare are the arrangers. The dealers off the facility are the arrangers, ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Chase Manhattan, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and SG.

*EL.en, an Italian medical and industrial laser maker, has priced its Eu35.2m IPO towards the bottom of the range following investors' concerns over market volatility. The price was set at Eu26 from a range of Eu24.5 and Eu31.5. The stock will start trading on the Nuovo Mercato on December 11.

BoE Bank of South Africa has become the country's first private bank to issue a senior debt bond, with a R1bn three year issue launched this week on the domestic market through Merrill Lynch. The bond offers a 12.75% coupon on a 99.842 issue/reoffer price, giving a 105bp pick-up over three year government swaps. It was also the first ever offering on the domestic market from a single-A rated issuer - BoE is rated A1/A+/A+.