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Event and political risk raised their profiles in the UK's troubled public-private partnerships (PPP) sector once again this week with rumours and counter-rumours circulating around the fate of the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) PPP. Early in the week there were reports that the four mandated lead arrangers and underwriters of the £1.45bn financing backing the PPP - Abbey National Treasury Services, Bank of America, Barclays Capital and HBOS - were threatening to force NATS into administration as the company faced a liquidity crisis as a result of the sharp drop in airline traffic following September 11.

Never let it be said that we are not sometimes slightly ahead of the news. In issue 737 of EuroWeek on January 25, we said that CSFB's John Mack was about to ring the changes in his floundering investment banking division, and that many senior heads would be used as croquet balls for Mr Mack's sumptuous country estate outside New York. And who did we name as the man most likely to take over the struggling division? We said that Mack would turn to his trusty former colleague, Walid Chammah, who would cut the CSFB investment banking prima donnas down to size and off at the knees. And what happened? Before you could say, "did Linda Robinson in John Mack's office receive our Valentine card?", there was the grand announcement that Chammah was joining CSFB as co-head of investment banking.

* Clearnet and MTS have signed an agreement with Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia, the clearing house for the Italian bourse. The three parties intend to set up a central counterparty service to allow transactions on Italian government bonds to be executed on MTS SpA, an electronic trading platform in Italy. The transactions would be executed anonymously and guaranteed by the service.

Event and political risk raised their profiles in the UK's troubled public-private partnerships (PPP) sector once again this week with rumours and counter-rumours circulating around the fate of the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) PPP. Early in the week there were reports that the four mandated lead arrangers and underwriters of the £1.45bn financing backing the PPP - Abbey National Treasury Services, Bank of America, Barclays Capital and HBOS - were threatening to force NATS into administration as the company faced a liquidity crisis as a result of the sharp drop in airline traffic following September 11.

US dollar swap spreads scarcely changed over the week and traded in a very tight range of no more than 1.5bp-2bp. The new issue market picked up where it had left off last week and continued to provide a steady stream of large deals, most of which appeared to be swap candidates. The Republic of Italy launched a $2bn 10 year global yesterday (Thursday), which is to be priced today (Friday). The lead managers are Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs.

Poland Initial price talk for the Republic of Poland's forthcoming Eu750m 10 year Eurobond via Credit Suisse First Boston and Citigroup/SSSB is said to be swaps plus 47bp. The republic completes its roadshow for the bond today (Friday), with launch expected early next week.

Germany Merck, the German pharmacetical company, is looking to spin off its laboratory distribution business, VWR International, in the near future.

* GMAC International Finance BV Guarantor: General Motors Acceptance Corp

* Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten NV (BNG) Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Twenty-one trades were closed in other currencies. Development Bank of Singapore issued the largest number of trades and closed nine deals in Singapore dollar. The largest trade was a S$1.5 million ($820 thousand) one-month note. All of the issuer's other trades have a maturity of one month. Fortis Finance closed the day's only Norwegian krone MTN. The Nkr400 million ($44.95 million) two-year offer pays a coupon of 7.25% and was led by Fortis Bank. HSBC Investment Bank (Netherlands) saw opportunities in the two-year sector and self-led a HK$80 million ($10.27 million) six-week trade that will be issued on April 16 2002. The bank also led Nordic Investment Bank's HK$1 billion five-year FRN that pays a coupon of 5.25%. Other financials active in Hong Kong dollar included Abbey National Treasury Services with its HK50 million two-year FRN and KBC Financial Products International with its two HK15 million one-month notes.

The financials dominated trading activity in other currencies. Twenty-four trades were closed in the sector and 23 of these came from the financial services. Development Bank of Singapore closed five deals in Singapore dollar. The largest trade was a S$10 million ($5.46 million) four-year note. All of the issuer's other trades have a maturity of one month. HSBC led Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's HK$92 million ($11.80 million) 18-month trade. The FRN pays a coupon of 3.15% and will be issued on March 1 2002. HSBC also placed two trades for HSBC Investment Bank (Netherlands). The issuer closed a HK$80 million six-month trade and a S$10 million six-week MTN. Toyota Finance Australia was the only corporate active in the market. It closed A$15 million FRN that goes out to February 28 2003. Two sterling notes were issued. Deutsche Bank issued the largest: a £

The continued volatility of stocks across all sectors in 2002 has left little opportunity for issuers to raise money through the equity markets, the Eu1.3bn BHW debacle last week being the latest blow to the sector. This week EuroWeek conducted a straw poll of 10 ECM bankers and five fund managers in an attempt to analyse how this latest flop has affected the confidence of bankers and investors alike.