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Do we hear sounds of changing the guard at the UBS Warburg Palace? Are any changes needed? While many competitors have had their undies in a twist all year, UBSW has maintained some of the straightest silk stocking seams in the industry since the golden days of Betty Grable. Although we are not, regrettably, privy to any decent inside information, watch out for the UBSW results coming shortly, and if they are below expectations we would be very surprised.

Rating: A3 Amount: Eu300m

The rally in international bond markets, inspired by a 50bp cut in the Fed Funds rate to a new 40 year low of 1.25%, quickly foundered yesterday (Thursday) as equity markets nose-dived, with the Dow Jones losing 2.11% on the day to close at 8,586.24. And hopes that the UK and Europe would follow the US were dashed as the ECB and the Bank of England kept rates unchanged.

A bank presentation was held in London on Wednesday for the senior syndication of the £426.4m loan for the new Wembley National Stadium. Around 15 banks attended the meeting where many of the questions centred on the departure late last week of the Football Association's chief executive, Adam Crozier - recognised as a driving force behind the project.

Mandated arrangers BayernLB, Danske Bank, Lloyds Bank (facility agent) and WestLB (co-ordinator) have closed syndication of the £250m facility for Western Power Distribution (South West). The facility is divided into two tranches: tranche 'A' is a £100m one year loan with a one year term out option and tranche 'B' is a £150m five year facility. The deal pays a margin linked to a ratings grid. The borrower is currently rated BBB+.

Guarantor: Westpac Banking Corp Rating: Aa3/AA-

One to three year trades accounted for over 30% of all business in the EuroMTN market this week. Over $2.3bn was closed through 46 trades in this maturity range. French names were among the most active borrowers. Compagnie de Financement Foncier closed three trades for Eu10m each. One of the deals pays a coupon of 3bp under three month Euribor and matures in July 2005. Morgan Stanley was the bookrunner.

Private corporate issuance topped $1bn this week, including some big yen trades. Fuji Xerox Finance closed a ¥3.4bn two year trade via Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe. The note pays a coupon of 0.2%. Linde Finance went out to three years with a ¥3bn note. The annual coupon is 0.493%.

Rating: Aaa/AAA (Moody's/Fitch) Amount: Eu455m (fungible with six issues totaling Eu1.077bn first launched 13/03/02)

Triple-As improved on last week's strong issuance trend and accounted for over 50% of total issuance this week. Of the 121 trades closed by triple-A names, Norwegian borrowers were especially active. Eksportfinans issued nine trades, split between seven yen and two dollar notes. The agency's biggest yen deal was for ¥320m and pays an annual coupon of 4.3%. Kommunalbanken issued in yen, but also tapped other currencies. Deutsche Bank placed a Sfr50m note for the local authority borrower. The 12 year note has an annual coupon of 3.08%.