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The Kingdom of Thailand heralded its return to the international bond markets after a four year absence, pricing a ¥35bn three tranche Samurai bond issue this week in the face of taxing market conditions. The kingdom's comeback has fuelled hopes that other borrowers, not only Asian but also international, will return to the Samurai market en masse. Early signs are encouraging, with Volkswagen (VW) and Household Finance set to launch deals early in the new year, albeit delayed from earlier this year.

Shares of Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco), China's largest producer of alumina, made an uninspired debut in Hong Kong on Wednesday, closing little changed from the offer price on a day when the Hang Seng Index performed well. The shares closed at HK$1.39, compared with an offer price of HK$1.37. This is despite reports that the global share offering was more than 11 times subscribed. Morgan Stanley and CICC arranged the deal.

Australia With nickel prices depressed, Moody's this week downgraded two of the producers in the sector. The agency lowered the rating of Murrin Murrin Holdings (MMH) from B1 to B3 with a negative outlook and dropped Glencore Nickel's rating to B1 from Ba3.

HSBC Australia and SPI PowerNet launched successful transactions into the domestic Australian market this week, rounding off a busy end of year period. HSBC was first, debuting in the market with a A$170m five year fixed and floating rate subordinated debt issue.

The Indonesian government last Friday sold Rph3.1tr ($300m) of PT Telkom stock, signalling more positive sentiment towards some of Asia's quieter markets. In what bankers characterised as surprisingly strong demand, the deal ended up about twice the size many had hoped for and inside the low end of the indicated 4%-6% discount.

Deutsche Bank on Wednesday began premarketing the IPO of Media Nation in Hong Kong, following the positive response to the marketing of Clear Media to both institutional and retail accounts. Media Nation, like Clear Media, is an outdoor media company operating in China. It was launched a decade ago in Beijing and sells outdoor advertising space in Hong Kong and on the mainland. The company has exclusive rights to sell the advertising space within the Beijing and Shanghai metro systems, as well as other outdoor venues.

LG Card Co, the largest player in South Korea's booming credit card market, this week launched its first international securitisation. The $500m deal, lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS Warburg, was wrapped by triple-A rated monoline insurer Financial Security Assurance and placed with about 20 investors worldwide.

The Kingdom of Thailand heralded its return to the international bond markets after a four year absence, pricing a ¥35bn three tranche Samurai bond issue this week in the face of taxing market conditions. The kingdom's comeback has fuelled hopes that other borrowers, not only Asian but also international, will return to the Samurai market en masse. Early signs are encouraging, with Volkswagen (VW) and Household Finance set to launch deals early in the new year, albeit delayed from earlier this year.

Unilever's out of court victory over Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) is raising wider concerns among pension fund trustees, according to research commissioned by SEI Investments. The landmark settlement between MLIM and Unilever Superannuation Fund is causing trustees to reassess the risk that their fund managers are running and the information flows about the performance of their clients' money.

Over $1.1 billion was traded in US dollar. HSBC was dealer for almost $300 million of this total as it did a large floating rate deal for one fund manager involving no less than 12 issuers. The bank managed trades worth $13.38 million each for seven borrowers: Northern Rock, Wurttemburgische Hypothekenbank, Irish Life Permanent, Britannia Building Society, Yorkshire Building Society, Prudential Banking and Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank. And Dexia Credit Local, Abbey National, Hamburgische Landesbank and Depfa Bank Europe also did trades for $27.168 million via HSBC, while European Investment Bank did a $95.088 million note via the dealer. All the notes will settle on December 14 this year and will mature on December 16 2004. They are straight floating rate notes, which pay a quarterly coupon of 3m $Libor plus a margin that varies for each issuer and all were sold to one fund manager. Toyota Motor Credit Corp was in the market too with a $218 million five-year deal that pays interest monthly. And Telecom Corp of New Zealand (TCNZ) issued a $250 million 10-year deal that pays a final coupon of 6.750%. Other borrowers were either bank issuers or public agency borrowers such as Freddie Mac.

US dollar saw 17 trades that raised almost $400 million-worth of debt. Two German banks were in the five- and 10-year sectors: Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank did a $10 million 10-year trade via Daiwa. The note pays a floating rate for the first two years of 6m $Libor +60bp and it then pays a fixed coupon of 7.750%. There is one call option on December 19 2003. Joining Rentenbank in the 10-year maturity bracket was UBS (Jersey), also with a $10 million trade maturing on December 14 2011. And Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz issued a $5 million five-year trade that pays a fixed-rate coupon of 5.165% semi-annually. There are no call options on the note and it was done via Deutsche Bank. Other issuers in the five-year sector were Sigma Finance Corp, with a $15 million trade, and SGA with trades for $20 million and $10 million. Bank Austria was also in the market with a $250 million non-syndicated note via Royal Bank of Canada. The six-year trade pays a fixed coupon of 5.5% annually and there are no calls. And Abbey National Treasury Services did a $5 million three-year trade. It pays interest semi-annually and the final coupon pays 3.600%.