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Rating: Aaa/AAA (Moody's/Fitch) Amount: Eu1.5bn global, Öffentlicher Pfandbrief series 660

The chaps at SNS bank are preparing for another day spent racing around the country roads outside Amsterdam in their vintage cars. The day will take place in mid-June and most of the dealers have been invited. After the rally car racing, SNS has lots more in store for its guests, but Bas Snijders and Bart Toering, on the debt issuing desk, are not giving away any secrets about the day's line up. But the invitation promises that it will be a late night. Dresdner's Michael Stump has been lying low for the past few months, but Leak can reveal that he is a man with a mission. The mission has been to shed a few pounds and he has been doing remarkably well. If he manages another two and a half pounds by May, he could stand to win a £

Guarantor: Land Baden-Württemberg Rating: Aaa/AAA

Wesley Paul, the former global head of investments at JP Morgan Asset Management, has launched a new hedge fund called Edgeworth Capital. Lehman Brothers, which is trying to develop its alternative asset management business, is the majority owner of the fund, which aims to take advantage of explosive growth in the sector.

EU convergence candidates Romania and Lithuania are set to complete another two blowout euro transactions, just as questions are beginning to be raised about the sustainability of the whole EU convergence story. "It is getting like the Neuer Markt bubble," said one German investor, who admitted that he had placed a heavily inflated order for Romania just to claim a small allocation. "Like then, everyone is saying yes and demanding as much as possible, but the size of the orders cannot possibly represent the real demand."

A mandate is imminent for the $600m refinancing facility for Maxis Holdings Sdn Bhd. ABN Amro is widely tipped to secure the arranger role as it played this part in the original $735m fundraising in November last year. That transaction was a bridge facility that featured a step-up margin over time. The borrower wants to refinance that deal before the margin rises to 250bp from 200bp after the first six months.

Amount: Eu450m Issue price:100.00

RWE's Eu6.5bn combined euro and sterling issue this week enjoyed a mixed performance as the market digested heavy corporate supply and mulled E.On's announcement that it will be launching a similar issue in the coming weeks. Fellow utility E.On is believed to have planned a roadshow with its bankers ABN Amro, Barclays Capital, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Goldman Sachs for the week beginning May 6.

Guarantor: XL Capital Assurance Amount: $53.4m

Despite continental Europe-wide holidays and Golden Week in Japan, underwriters are cramming a surprising amount of business into next week. Roadshows are in abundance and the new issue calendar looks busy, especially in euros. This week the credit market digested the Eu6.5bn equivalent issue RWE launched last Friday (April 19), which included the largest ever sterling offering, of £1.55bn. It was priced just before E.On named ABN Amro, Barclays, DrKW and Goldman Sachs as leads for its intermediate and long dated euro and sterling bonds worth between Eu5 and Eu7bn.

Arranger HSBC will close the books for Davis Services' £425m acquisition facility today (Friday). Funds will be used to buy Denmark's textile services group, Sophus Berendson.

Dollar swap spreads compressed once more this week. By yesterday (Thursday) afternoon the five year spread had come in to around 52.5bp over Treasuries while the 10 year was at 58bp over Treasuries. These prices were off the lows of the week, but represented a decline of another 4bp or so over the past seven days. The underlying strength of the Treasury market this week exerted downward pressure on swap spreads. Over the past couple of weeks, the general assessment of the economic trajectory over the next few months and the likely response of the Federal Reserve has undergone a dramatic reappraisal. Recent economic data releases have been ambiguous at best, while the stock market has endured some serious losses. A series of European and US firms have announced poor earning figures over the last few weeks.