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European Union (EU) finance ministers at last agreed a compromise solution to the withholding tax issue on Tuesday that Euromarket officials say guarantees the future of the industry. The planned directive had at one point threatened to push business out of the EU in the same way that the Euromarket was catalysed in 1963 by the implementation of withholding tax in the US.

Arrangers ANZ Investment Bank, Bank of Scotland/BankWest and National Australia Bank have launched a $287.5m fundraising for Oswal Chemical & Fertiliser Burrup ammonia plant. The facility includes a $285m 2-1/2 year construction facility. After the construction period it converts into a two tranche facility comprising a $75m five year term loan and a $195m 10 year term loan. Additionally the facility has a $17.5m contingent debt portion that will only be drawn if required to fund a $25m debt service reserve account.

Why is Goldman Sachs suddenly attracting more attention than Madonna or Gwyneth Paltrow? Normally, Goldie is more reclusive than the late Greta Garbo, but now we can turn on our screens and see how many ladders Goldie has in her fishnet tights. What would John Weinberg and John Whitehead have said if they saw so much bare flesh being exposed? First, we received a flurry of calls from market observers after we had pointed out that a number of high rolling Goldman Sachs executives were cashing in their chips, getting off the treadmill and were doing good charitable deeds with their fabled wealth.

The Kingdom of Bahrain launched its debut Eurobond on Tuesday, avoiding growing investor concerns over a US-led war on Iraq, to build a book of nearly $1.2bn for its $500m five year bond. Turkey, which shares a border with Iraq, also completed its second offering of the year, a Eu500m five year deal that was priced last Friday via Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. This takes Turkey's borrowing this year to more than $1.25bn - roughly one third of its total requirement for 2003.

The Kingdom of Bahrain launched its debut Eurobond on Tuesday, avoiding growing investor concerns over a US-led war on Iraq, to build a book of nearly $1.2bn for its $500m five year bond. Turkey, which shares a border with Iraq, also completed its second offering of the year, a Eu500m five year deal that was priced last Friday via Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. This takes Turkey's borrowing this year to more than $1.25bn - roughly one third of its total requirement for 2003.

Non-executive directors should take a more active role in the companies whose boards they sit on, according to the Higgs report released by the UK government on Monday. Derek Higgs, a former investment banker at SG Warburg, proposed a clearer description of the role of the non-executive director. He argues that the performance of individual directors and the board should be evaluated annually.

After the successful completion of sub-underwriting, arranger SG has launched the HK$2.25bn three year term loan for Wharf Holdings into syndication. Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Construction Bank, Crédit Lyonnais, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, ICBC and Standard Chartered joined in sub-underwriting.

High yield investors expressed their disappointment this week when their request for a change to the structure of the Eu600m (equivalent) bond for Legrand was refused. Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers and RBS, which are lead managing the deal, had asked Legrand's lending banks for a waiver to give investors a stronger claim to repayment in the event of default.

Irish Life & Permanent has put its name to a Eu2bn EuroCP programme. Barclays Capital has won the arrangership. The facility, rated P-1/A-1 by Moody's and Standard & Poor's, will run alongside the issuer's existing Eu1bn EuroCP shelf which was signed in January 1999.

Rating: Aa1/AAA (Moody's/Fitch) Amount: Eu75m Öffentlicher Pfandbrief series 5266 (increased by Eu25m 23/01/03)

Islandsbanki, Iceland's biggest bank, has issued the first Icelandic krona trade in the EuroMTN market since 1999. The Ikr250m trade has a tenor of two years and was self-led. The note pays a coupon of 6.35%, which is linked to the Icelandic inflation index.

The Region of Puglia has become the latest in a long line of Italian borrowers to enter the EuroMTN market. The region has signed a Eu1bn MTN facility, which was arranged by Merrill Lynch. The dealer panel is Banca IMI, Depfa Bank, Merrill Lynch and MPS Finance Banca Mobiliare.