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Brazil and Mexico this week proved that the international bond markets remain open to Latin American credits despite the economic problems in Argentina.

Before Christmas Leak reported that Mr Barry Gartner, erstwhile Euro-CP originator at Barclays Capital, had left the bank for a long and happy life in retirement. But it seems that Gartner was far from content to sculpt the lawn and help the grandchildren with their homework. Leak can reveal that Barry has gone online and is working for the internet bond trading platform, TradeWeb. He is working on the CP section of the website, which has recently been reaching record daily volumes. Good move Barry. Deutsche Bank's Euro-MTN desk has also pinched the expertise of a Euro-CP man. Jan Wipplinger has joined the desk after four years on Deutsche's Euro-CP desk. He will report to head trader Chris Jones. Mr Wipplinger, for those who don't know what he looks like, is caricatured in IFR's Review of 2001... looking suspiciously like a young Sylvestor Stallone. And JPMorgan's Euro-MTN traders Rob Nankivell and Miles Hunt have had some upheaval. They've moved offices from Victoria Embankment to London Wall. The new offices are very nice apparently and are furnished with purple carpets. All well and good for creating a soothing atmosphere, but it clashes terribly with Miles's suits.

France Joint bookrunners BNP Paribas and Citibank/SSB have wrapped the syndication of the $2bn five year loan facility for oil and gas services group Schlumberger. The credit was oversubscribed but the borrower has not chosen to increase the size of the deal.

The dollar market was this week awash with three year supranational issuance, with the EIB and IADB together adding $5bn to a sector already pressured by the $3bn World Bank transaction last week. The next supra into the arena is expected to be the Asian Development Bank, which this week conducted a non-deal roadshow, sponsored by Morgan Stanley, in the US. It followed an ADB roadshow in Asia at the end of last year via HSBC and Nomura. ADB's borrowing requirement for 2002 is set to grow from $2bn in 2000 and 2001 to $7.5bn.

Xerox is set to price $500m equivalent of high yield bonds as early as today (Friday), in a stern test of how appetite for the copier company's paper has changed since its fall from grace in 2000. Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are joint books on the seven year deal, which will be split into dollars and euros, with the dollar tranche likely to be the larger.

CDC IXIS Capital Markets closed two trades in yen. One is a ¥500 million ($3.81 million) 15-year non-call-one CMS-linked note. After the first year it will become callable every six months. The other note is a PRDC for ¥600 million. It is a non-call-one and pays a fixed coupon of 3.70% at the end of the first year. If not called, the coupon them becomes floating rate, linked to the US dollar/yen exchange rate, and will be callable annually. The only other two trades to be closed in the currency were World Bank's ¥1 billion 20-year note and SGA's ¥200 million 30-year trade.

Yen raised a total of $149.52 million-worth off 19 deals. Most of the trades were sized between ¥500 million ($3.77 million) and ¥2 billion. Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) closed three deals. Two were ¥2 billion 20- and 25-year notes and were done via Tokai Bank. Both trades are non-call-two and pay a fixed coupon for the first two years. They then become linked to the Aussie dollar/yen FX rate and the coupon is paid annually. KfW also traded a ¥1.2 billion 30-year deal via Nikko Salomon Smith Barney. This note is non-call-one and after the first year it becomes linked to the US dollar/yen FX rate with Bermudan calls. Credit Lyonnais Finance (Guernsey) closed three short-dated notes: a ¥99.68 million two-month note that pays a coupon of 8.6%; a ¥99.82 million three-month trade that pays a coupon of 5%; and a ¥50 million six-month deal that pays a coupon of 3%. Other issuers were Lloyds TSB Bank (with a ¥1.2 billion 13-year note); Royal Bank of Scotland (with a ¥1.7 billion 15-year trade); Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (which did a ¥1 billion 25-year trade) and Pfandbriefstelle (also with a ¥1 billion 30-year note). Banque et Caisse d'Epargne de l'Etat Luxembourg did a ¥500 million 15-year step up reverse floater. It pays a fixed rate of 2% for the first year and thereafter it is linked to ¥Libor.

Almost $90 million-worth of yen was traded and the biggest notes came from Australian government entity Export Finance & Insurance Corp (EFIC) and World Bank, both with ¥ 3 billion trades. EFIC's note goes out 15 years and World Bank's trade goes out 30 years. Four notes were closed for ¥1 billion. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten did a ¥1 billion 20-year reverse floater via Daiwa Securities. The trade is a non-call-one, callable semi-annually thereafter and the inverse floating rate is linked to ¥Libor flat, payable semi-annually after the first year. ARV International, BNP Paribas and Nederlandse Waterschapsbank also did ¥1 billion notes. Westland/Utrecht Hypotheekbank closed a ¥500 million 15-year power reverse dual currency (PRDC) note. Deutsche Bank managed the deal, which is callable annually and pays a coupon linked to the yen/US dollar FX rate. And CDC IXIS Capital Markets traded two ¥500 million notes: one with a tenor of 20 years and the other that goes out to 30 years.

Brazil and Mexico this week proved that the international bond markets remain open to Latin American credits despite the economic problems in Argentina.

A number of issuers are rumoured to be coming to the Euro-CP market. BAA is to sign a $1 billion Euro-CP programme; JPMorgan Chase is to put its name to a $1.5 billion Euro-CP facility; Newco Funding is putting the finishing touches to a $2 billion Euro-CP programme; Romulus Funding Corp will sign a $2 billion Euro-CP facility and Coca-Cola HBC Finance is to sign a Euro-CP facility. The amount is not yet disclosed.

Chile Mandated arrangers ABN Amro and JP Morgan have completed the $220m term loan for Empresa Electrica Colbun Machicura SA.

Cofinoga has added Barclays Capital, HSBC CCF and Natexis Banques Populaires as dealers to its euro2 billion ($1.78 billion) Euro-MTN programme. Morgan Stanley and Salomon Smith Barney have been dropped as dealers. The programme has $722.86 million outstanding off six trades.