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The region of Tuscany is putting the finishing touches to a euro1.5 billion ($1.31 billion) Euro-MTN facility. The facility is due to be signed on March 6 and there are five arrangers. The arrangers are UBS Warburg, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena are co-arrangers. Simonetta Baldi is responsible for finance and tax services at the region of Tuscany and she says: "The dealer panel has not yet been selected, but it should be confirmed before the end of next week. Some will be banks that pitched for the arrangership." The facility is being set up to finance the region's investment project, which will run from 2003 to 2007. The Euro-MTN programme will also be used to refinance some of the region's existing debt. Tuscany's investment project will work on improving the following sectors: transport, coastal erosion in Tuscany, investment in the major towns of the region (Florence, Prato and Arezzo), health and social sectors, student accommodation, culture and museums, and technology. Baldi, at the region of Tuscany, says: "Over the five-year period of the investment project it will need euro900 million and most of this will be raised off the MTN programme." The debut bond will be issued before the end of May and will be approximately euro465 million. It is likely to be denominated in euro, although the region cannot rule out the possibility of it being in sterling. The maturity will be 20 years and it will be led by the arrangers of the programme. Baldi says: "Other notes are possible in 2002 after the debut trade, but it is premature to say what these will be." The region is rated Aa3 by Moody's and is expecting to receive a rating from Standard & Poor's in March or April. (See feature on page 3).

HypoVereinsbank closed the shortest dated US dollar trade with its $10 million nine-month trade. Republic of Austria closed a $500 million note in the five-year sector, which is due on March 7 2002 and will mature on August 31 2007. It pays a final coupon of 5% and is the issuer's second $500 million trade of the year. Natexis Banque also issued $500 million note due on February 28 and maturing in February 2006. Natexis Banque Populaire was the sole bookrunner and it was also joint lead manager along with Lehman Brothers. The note is a straight FRN linked to 3m $Libor +15 basis points. And KfW International Finance closed a $20 million three-year trade that pays interest semi-annually.

* Crédit Agricole SA Rating: Aa1/AA

Globals * Citigroup Inc

Asia Pacific * Series 2002-1G Medallion Trust

Hong Kong Banks in Hong Kong are bidding for the mandate to arrange a HK$5bn loan for PCCW-HKT Telephone. The deal will part refinance the five year portion of the $4.7bn fundraising completed in 2001.

Congratulations to Lehman Brothers, the firm that has had the courage to declare war on "dress down" Mondays to Fridays. Now Lehman men will have to wear suits, unless they are buried deep in the bowels of the back-office and are never allowed to be seen by visiting clients. Lehman's decision is a return to common sense. We deliberately try not to visit too many offices, but when we have no choice, the impression is one of entering an Oxfam jumble-sale room for charity clothes. It is really a sad state of affairs when the best dressed people you see are the lowly paid security guards, who take their dress cue from nightclub bouncers.

* Nederlandse Waterschapsbank NV Rating: Aaa/AAA

Diminishing volumes because of a drop in M&A and a shaky telecoms sector challenged the loan market in 2001. At the end of last year, loan bankers were confident that with an improved economic environment volumes would increase in 2002. However, with daily credit scares and profit warnings, M&A volumes show no sign of returning to the levels of 1999 and 2000, and the TMT sector has not yet stabilised. This week EuroWeek conducted a straw poll of syndication bankers at the top 12 loan houses in London to reveal what attitudes persist in the first two months of 2002.

Banque PSA Finance has increased the limit off its debt issuance programme to $8 billion from $6.5 billion. The programme has $6.25 billion outstanding off 79 trades.

Banco Comercial Portugues has added Credit Suisse First Boston as a dealer to its euro3 billion ($2.61 million) global CP programme. Banco Portugues do Atlantico has been dropped as an issuer. The programme was signed in 1999 via Goldman Sachs and has $1.23 billion outstanding off 37 trades.