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El Paso Corp.'s bank debt plunged almost 20 points last week after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission disclosed that the company's pipeline subsidiary would be held responsible for withholding capacity from California during the state's 2000/2001 energy crisis. A $5-10 million trade in the 75-77 range created quite a buzz in the market as the paper had been in the 90s. Market players were taken aback by the low levels at which the trade was posted and the relative quiet surrounding the parties involved in the trade. The buyer and seller could not be determined.

Egg, the U.K.-based online bank, will come to market with its first credit card securitization in the next few months. The deal will be at least £200 million in size and will be backed by receivables from the Egg Card, says a senior securitization official. Deutsche Bank has won the mandate for the deal. Details on expected pricing and timing of the deal could not be learned by press time last Thursday. Calls to senior Deutsche Bank officials were not returned.

WestLB is ramping up its $1 billion Blue Heron Funding III collateralized debt obligation, says a CDO market participant. The collateral manager will be WestLB in New York, while the notes will be sold out of the firm's New York and London offices. Pricing is expected this week or next week, adds this official. Blue Heron I was priced last October and Blue Heron II, in March. This third series is being customized for an undisclosed European financial institution, which will buy the entire $100 million class B tranche of single-A rated notes. No price talk was available as of press time last Thursday. Tom McCaffery, regional head for global financial markets in New York, declined to comment.

ABN AMRO's retail bank is about to launch a residential mortgage-backed securitization of Dutch mortgages that will mark its first use of securitization to sell prepayment risk. The deal will be about E500 million and will feature a fixed-rated passthrough component to allow the bank to sell prepayment risk, as well as a floating rate passthrough portion. The fixed-rate passthrough structure has been little used in Europe and this deal is an attempt to resurrect a securitization method commonly used in the U.S., according to a syndicate official with intimate knowledge of the transaction.

Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) has obtained an $875 million senior unsecured revolver in order to pay off and refinance existing debt, according to Nancy Vineyard, treasurer. The new credit line repaid a $375 million bridge loan backing the company's $400 million acquisition of AFSA Data Corp. last June and refinanced its existing $450 million revolver, Vineyard said. ACS set a minimum target of $700 million for the deal, but it took an $875 million credit due to strong demand during syndication, she explained. Vineyard noted that there is still a $25 million accordion feature in place to raise the line to $900 million if needed.

Levels on Allied Waste Industries' term loan "B" fell about a point to the 97-98 range after the company pulled a proposed $250 million note offering. Proceeds from the sale had been earmarked to pay down the company's term loans on a pro-rata basis. Traders said the bank debt was not drastically affected because the paydown was not urgent.

J.P. Morgan, UBS Warburg and Goldman Sachs are tentatively setting aside Friday as the launch date for syndication of a $325 million credit facility backing the $620 million leveraged buyout of the waterworks distribution business of United States Filter by Thomas H. Lee Partners and J.P. Morgan Partners. The bank financing consists of a $75 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 3% and a $250 million "B" term loan with a spread of 31Ž 2% over LIBOR. The buyout also will be financed with $200 million in subordinated notes, according to a banker familiar with the transaction. Officials at the banks either declined to comment or did not return calls.

Ambac Assurance Corp. has hired Evy Adamidou as first v.p. and senior transactor for collateralized debt obligations and credit derivatives, says Michael Schoezer, managing director and head of structured finance and credit derivatives. She will start Wednesday.

RHB Bank and Bumiputra-Commerce Bank's (BCB) ambitions to issue $200m 10 year non-call five subordinated deals in October were boosted this week by Moody's Investors Service's decision to raise the senior debt ratings of Malaysia and several domestic banks, including RHB and BCB. Bond spreads in Asia drifted wider this week, but the agency's decision to improve its rating for Malaysia from Baa2 to Baa1, although widely anticipated, bolstered Malaysian bonds. The sovereign's benchmark 7.5% 2011 issue tightened from 158bp over Treasuries on Tuesday to 153bp over yesterday (Thursday).

Daiwa and Deutsche Bank will set out next week to market the flotation of Sohgo Security Services (SOK). This will be the first Japanese IPO in which Deutsche Bank has won a lead position. Following the poor performance of NEC Fielding stock since listing last week, bankers hope that next week's listing of NS Solutions will prove more positive for sentiment towards Japanese IPOs.

Sydney Airports started the roadshow for its high profile, multi tranche A$1.5bn bond issue on Monday, even as Vodafone embarked on a roadshow that bankers think may spawn a A$500m issue despite the borrower stating that it was not deal related. The three tranche transaction from Sydney Airports has been anticipated for four months and bankers at the lead managers said that the response so far has been good.

Sentiment towards the jumbo A$1bn preferred stock issue by AMP has been even more volatile than the global stock markets. But by yesterday (Thursday) afternoon in Sydney, the ordinary share price was enjoying its second day of recovery as investors sensed the preference share issue would be completed as planned. Earlier this week, the stock price plummeted as negative news articles appeared in the Australian press and the company made a series of surprising new releases.