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DGZÀDekaBank Deutsche Kommunalbank (DGZ) has put its name to a euro10 billion ($8.66 billion) Euro-CP programme. DGZ has won the arrangership. It is the first German issuer to sign a programme in 2002. The last German issuer to sign was Deutsche Borse, which brought its euro2.5 billion multi-currency CP programme to the market in December 2001. The issuer will change its name from DGZÀDekaBank Deutsche Kommunalbank to DekaBank - Deutsche. The change is due on July 1 2002. The dealers on the facility are the arranger, Barclays Capital, CDC IXIS Capital Markets, Citibank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and UBS Warburg.

Sentiment in the corporate bond markets improved considerably this week on news that the US economic recovery is gathering momentum and a positive speech from Fed chairman Alan Greenspan. High grade issuance picked up in dollars, but remained at a low ebb in euros. US corporates are keen to return to the market, but in Europe only a handful of deals have been added to the pipeline.

HBOS took the market by surprise on Wednesday when it launched a £1.28bn share placement. The bank, formed by the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland last year, launched the offering on the back of good year end results for 2001 in an attempt to strengthen the company's capital reserves.

JP Morgan has brought in two new faces to fill positions in its Asia Pacific technology equity research. Bhavin Shah joins as managing director and head of Asia Pacific technology equity research, and Kota Nakako comes on board as managing director and head of media and telecoms research. Shah has a strong reputation, having been ranked number one technology analyst in Asia by Institutional Investor for two years running. He joins JP Morgan from Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). Shah, who will be based in Hong Kong, reports to Peter Redhead, head of Asia Pacific Industry Research.

Landesbank Sachsen has added Barclays Capital and JPMorgan as dealers to its euro3 billion ($2.60 billion) Euro-CP programme. BNP Paribas has been dropped as a dealer.

After several months' absence, Rod Sykes has surfaced in the Asian fixed income markets as a managing director and head of Asia Pacific debt capital markets at ING. He starts in mid-March. At ING, Sykes will help develop the bank's primary debt business, and will also work closely with the loan and securitisation businesses. He will report in to David Hudson, chairman and CEO of ING's wholesale corporate and investment banking business in Asia, and Tim Hall, global head of debt products.

ABN Amro has had to postpone the payment date for Kazakhoil's recently priced Eu125m Eurobond to March 12, following the surprise amalgamation of the state owned company with TransNefteGaz, holding company for the Kazakh government's oil and gas pipeline assets including KazTransOil (KTO). The delay will allow necessary amendments to the Eurobond offering circular, as well as the inclusion of a put option in the case of a ratings downgrade. The put will last 180 days, enabling the ratings agencies to straighten out the general confusion over the credit implications of the merger.

Cupid has been busy on HSBC's MTN desk. It was red roses all round for Annemarie Ganatra, Evie Christodoulidou and Fergus Kiely on Valentine's Day two weeks ago. Although Leak suspects that Fergus sent a bunch to himself, it seems that Annemarie has got followers in high places - her bunch was from the local dry cleaner. Leak wishes the cheeky chappie the best of luck - at least he'll be nice and clean on the first date. Also washed out were the Royal Bank of Scotland boys at their annual Scottish Bankers' Burns Night Supper at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. After a melee of haggis, whisky and wine the evening moved on to the Dorchester Club where the boys were having the time of their lives grooving to the sounds of Abba and Kylie Minogue. They were spotted crawling home at 3.30am. But there is one man you wouldn't catch out that late. Salomon's Richard Proudlove has confessed to Leak that the streets are no longer safe for MTN dealers. Fearless on the trading floor, Richard says he has resorted to travelling by taxi in his South-London hometown. But after Richard's heavyweight drinking at the Islandsbanki party last week Leak is more concerned about the safety of any potential mugger.

Bahrain The $300m financing for the second phase of the Al Hidd power and water desalination expansion project is unlikely to be syndicated. The debt for the project, which is split between a $200m export credit agency tranche and a $100m commercial facility, will be held by the four arrangers on the deal - Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, BNP Paribas and HSBC Investment Bank. A further bank may be brought in at a later stage.

After the disappointing levels of M&A in 2001 loan houses in Europe are anxious to recover lost business. Liberalisation of the European water, gas and electricity markets will affect the buying and selling of utility assets and bankers are hopeful that M&A in the European utilities will create much needed business.

Morgan Stanley this week offered investors their first chance to gain exposure to the euro credit market through a single security, with the launch of a Eu510m seven year "Euro Tracers" issue secured on a portfolio of 30 Eu1bn-plus investment grade bonds in four to seven year maturities. The simplicity of the unleveraged structure - the underlying securities are in a Jersey-based SPV that issues the bonds - mirrors that used by the bank in the US, where its inaugural $700m 10 year Tracers deal launched last October has been increased to $3bn and grabbed over $10bn of trading, according to Morgan Stanley.