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The bank debt of Nextel Communications bounced back up to the 88 level, with a trade taking place last Tuesday. Dealers said the name was stronger because of the rally in the equity markets early last week. Later, however, the paper lost momentum and trades were quoted at 87 5/8 and 87 1/2 by week's end.

The bank debt of Crown Cork & Seal received a boost from its latest positive earnings last week, as well as the confirmation that the company would go ahead with its spin-off of Constar International. The company posted net income of $0.34 per diluted share last quarter, compared to a loss of $0.10 per diluted share during the third quarter last year. The bank debt rallied from the 85 level and was trading in the 87 1/2 - 88 1/2 range following the news. Calls to Timothy Donahue, senior v.p. of finance, were not returned by press time.

Credit Agricole Indosuez plans to set up a global structured products desk in New York and will hire a team of eight to 10 staffers, including traders and structurers, as well as a head for the business. Industry officials familiar with the firm's plans noted the French manager has been planning the launch for some time, but has experienced delays in getting board approval. Credit Agricole is now waiting on licensing approval by regulators, which is likely next month.

Standard Chartered on Tuesday confirmed plans to proceed with its share offering and dual primary listing in Hong Kong. Goldman Sachs will start the deal on October 21, with pricing on October 26 and listing on October 31. The new share issue will total no more than 5% of the existing issued share capital and will be at a discount of up to 5% to the London close before pricing. The bank derives two-thirds of its profits from Asia and wants to raise its profile in the region. The issue has been on the back burner since last year, but the share price is now close to £7.00, the same as when the deal was pulled after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The Korean government sold 35.817m shares of Korea Tobacco & Ginseng this week, but the global offering fell about one-third short of its target, securing only $230m from international funds. However, the result was a considerable achievement given poor global equity market conditions and the KT&G share price performance on the day of pricing.

ABN Amro and UBS Warburg have hard underwritten the IPO of MobileOne, Singapore's second largest mobile phone operator. The two leads are understood to be talking to other houses to join as co-leads and take a portion of the hard underwriting. However, some banks are wary of the deal, citing limited fees for high risk and little control over the issuance process. One banker in Hong Kong said yesterday (Thursday) that the terms on which banks had been invited to participate remain unclear. The leads hope to launch the deal before the planned China Telecom offering.

Australian lender Members Equity Pty Ltd this week launched its first SEC registered global bond, a $1.4bn issue. Superannuation Members' Home Loans Ltd (SMHL) Global Fund No 3 is the largest dollar denominated Australian RMBS since Westpac's 1998 offering of just over $1.4bn.

Shares of NS Solutions, the computer systems subsidiary of Nippon Steel, fell more than 20% when the company debuted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange last Friday. Daiwa SMBC Morgan Stanley and UBS Warburg managed the sale. The deal, the largest Japanese IPO after the Daido Life float in March, raised almost ¥43bn. The listing came at a particularly difficult time, as the Tokyo market hovered near new 19 year lows and as pessimism grew about deflation, unemployment, non-performing loans and the slumping values of banks' cross shareholdings.

JTC Corp is spinning off a portfolio of science parks through lead managers DBS Bank, JP Morgan and Citigroup/SSB into Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT), in Singapore's second real estate investment trust (REIT) listing. The deal is likely to set a new benchmark yield for the REIT market in Singapore, which opened with the CapitaMall Trust (CMT) issue in July.

Australia Telstra embarked on a roadshow for its first Japanese retail targeted issue this week. Daiwa Securities SMBC is the sole bookrunner for the A$250m five year Uridashi deal.

Taiwan Several Taiwanese lenders are preparing to launch asset backed deals later this year. Taipei legislators passed a financial asset securitisation law in June, precipitating a flurry of interest from potential issuers.