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Amount: Eu200bn Öffentlicher Pfandbrief series 58 (fungible with two issues totalling Eu1.125bn launched 06/01/99 and 05/11/02) Maturity: July 4, 2007

Amount: Eu250m Öffentlicher Pfandbrief series 1069 (increased from Eu200m 02/01/03) Maturity: January 10, 2005

The European loan market has burst into life this year, with a Eu6bn multi-currency revolver for Electricité de France (EdF) heading for syndication today (Friday). Joint mandated lead arrangers BNP Paribas, Citigroup/SSSB, Crédit Agricole Indosuez, Deutsche Bank, HSBC CCF and JP Morgan hope to launch syndication for Aa3/AA/AAA rated EdF, Europe's largest power utility.

The first mandate of the year for a project finance deal in the Middle East was awarded this week. The arranging of the $1.35bn financing for the first stage of the Egyptian LNG project has gone to 15 banks, including international and local institutions. The lucky winners are ANZ Investment Bank, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), BayernLB, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Crédit Lyonnais, HSBC, IntesaBci, Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sanpaolo IMI, SG and WestLB. Three Egyptian banks also joined as mandated lead arrangers - Commercial International Bank, Misr International Bank and National Société Générale Bank.

Rating: Aaa/AA+/AAA Amount: C$125m

The European bank market is anticipating the launch of the £1.25bn 25 year term loan financing consortium Metronet's takeover of two London underground lines. The deal was due to launch into syndication last August, but was delayed.

Xavier Debonneuil, the head of SG's corporate and investment banking division, was killed in a car crash on December 26. Born in 1948, Debonneuil studied at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris before moving to Colorado State University to study statistics and economic administration in 1970.

COMMENTARY

Rating: Aa3/A+/AA- Amount: Eu100m

The Eu665m acquisition of France Télécom's Dutch cable assets, Casema, by Carlyle, Providence Equity Partners and GMT Communications Partners has been financed by Eu345m of senior and subordinated debt. ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Crédit Lyonnais, ING, Rabobank, Royal Bank of Scotland SG and WestLB are joint mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners of the facilities. The deal will not be syndicated and will be held between the banks as club loan.

With presidential elections only recently concluded, the Republic of Korea has wasted no time in mandating a $1bn 10 year refinancing, paving the way for what could be one of the most influential Asian sovereign benchmarks of 2003. The bond will only be the second ever from the A3/A- rated sovereign. Its rarity and 10 year maturity means that the issue will be an important reference for other Asian sovereign issuers and the strong pipeline of Korean bonds expected in the coming months.

France French insurer Scor announced at the end of 2002 that its Eu381m rights issue had been fully subscribed. The news will have come as a welcome surprise to many investors because in the run-up to the issue, Scor was dogged by successive restatements of its profits and objectives.