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Standard & Poor's will have exclusive rights to promote and distribute the Russian Trading System Index, the Russian equity benchmark, following a partnership agreement signed yesterday (Thursday). The deal gives S&P sole rights to distribute, license, market and publicise the RTSI, which accounts for around 80% of the RTS market capitalisation. That figure is expected to rise to 85% when Gazprom is added to the RTSI.

Standard & Poor's has created a new recovery ratings scale for loans in Europe that applies to second lien and other secured subordinated debt. The move is an extension of S&P's first recovery ratings, launched in 2004, that covered only first-secured debt, and it is a response to the growth of the second lien debt market in 2005 to more than Eu5bn.

Mobily, formerly known as Ettihad Etisalat, is talking to lenders about a refinancing to be launched in March or April, EuroWeek hears. The borrower, which is 35% owned by Emirates Telecom-munications Co, or Etisalat, was last in the market in October 2004 when it signed a $2.35bn one year revolver.

Rating: A-

Abanka Vipa could mandate lenders to arrange its Eu180m five year loan as early as Monday, bankers say, with a second round of bidding now unlikely. Abanka was last in the market in March 2005 when it signed a Eu115m five year loan arranged by bookrunners Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, BayernLB and ING.

First Rand Bank will shortly mandate between 10 and 12 banks to arrange a $300m loan split equally between three and five year maturities.

Market commentary

Military shipping company Navantia is about to sign a Eu356m debut facility via sole bookrunner Lloyds TSB, EuroWeek hears. The six and a half year performance bond facility pays a margin of around 30bp. During senior syndication, Lloyds TSB was joined by BBVA as mandated lead arranger. The loan will be used for general corporate purposes.

Rating: unrated

Penerbangan Malaysia is preparing to return to the international bond markets less than three months after it withdrew a $1.05bn 10 and 30 year deal just hours before pricing. The state-guaranteed company which owns Malaysia Airlines is understood to be talking to Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley about another deal. It is widely expected to be a $1bn 10 year transaction, to be launched during the first half of 2006. Bankers expect Malaysia's Commerce International Merchant Bankers to retain the mandate it was awarded in November, but Citigroup and HSBC, which were the other bookrunners for the pulled deal, have not been invited to bid.

Concerns about greater supply this week forced US Treasury yields up and pushed swap spreads wider. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced yesterday (Thursday) that the budget deficit would be at least $337bn in 2006, $20bn higher than last year.

Commitments are due next week for the second lien and mezzanine facilities supporting PAI's secondary acquisition of Sydvenska Kemi arranged by Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.