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IBM has dropped Lehman Brothers as a dealer off its euro8 billion ($7.11 billion) Euro-MTN programme. ABN Amro, JPMorgan and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney have been added to the dealer panel.

The novel $500m straight bond-cum-exchangeable issue for Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), originally conceived under the acronym Opera, has won applause from the global investment community, after being priced close to the tight end of the revised indicated range and inside the initial marketing range. Joint bookrunners Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and UBS Warburg set out on November 29 to sell $500m of straight bonds for KDIC that would, subject to trigger events, later become exchangeable bonds. Despite being the first of its kind in Asia, the deal secured $5.5bn of orders.

KPN, the Dutch telecoms company, has received an excellent response to its Eu5bn share issue. The deal, which according to KPN was twice covered by yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, has been hailed by both analysts and investors as a vital debt reducing move for the company. KPN's plans to raise Eu5bn through a straight share issue were met with surprise by investors when the deal was launched in November. The share price crashed 17% on the day of the announcement, but since then there has been a turnaround in sentiment, and the company and banks involved will feel vindicated for their choice of structure. The offering of 1.02bn shares was priced at Eu4.9, giving a 4.1% discount to KPN's close last night.

Mexico Barclays Bank (Miami) is in the market with a $250m USCP back-up facility for Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior (Bancomext).

Morgan Stanley's Deborah Loades, has just come back from the highest peaks of Chile where she went on honeymoon. And now Royal Bank of Scotland's MTN trader, Richard Harding, has set off on a trek to Patagonia in South America to chase some llamas. He is armed with nothing but some Kendal mint cake and a GPS Tracker (for when he loses his way). As a token of their affection, his fellow desk members, Sanjay Slim-fast Sofat, Nigel Owen and Ron Hugget, gave Richard some presents to put in his rucksack. Their only worry is that he may not have made it through customs. JPMorgan's Rob Big Bob Nankivell is off on an adventure as well. He is flying off for a few home comforts down under for a couple of weeks. He'll be cooking up his Christmas turkey on a barbie on a sandy beach somewhere. We're not jealous... Barclays's CP trading and origination stalwart, Barry Gartner, has left the bank. He's off to pastures new, although it will not be quite as exciting as either Patagonia or Australia as he has retired. And Monja Blattner has stepped into Barry's shoes as CP originator. Congratulations to Morgan Stanley's Klaus Svendsen. His baby Daniel was born on Monday. The baby and Klaus's wife are very well, which is less than can be said for Klaus who didn't realise that new babies mean dirty nappies. Apparently the baby is lucky enough to be almost as good looking as his father. Danish brewer, Carlsberg, has signed its Euro-MTN programme this week, which gives Leak high hopes for bribes for next year's best new MTN borrower award. Leak has a feeling Carlsberg is going to be one of the more popular issuers in the market. It has already treated its arranger, JPMorgan, to a post-signing party where lots of Carlsberg lager was drunk by all. Droves of investors turned up - Leak wonders if this had anything to do with the free beer. It was probably the best investors party in world...

UK retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) this week launched a £331m securitisation of the rental income from 59 of its UK retail properties via Morgan Stanley. The company has been considering securitisation since the second quarter of this year. The technique offers a 25 year funding source, which market participants suggest would be difficult for the company to obtain in the unsecured bond market.

Egypt EuroWeek understands that the National Bank of Egypt has approached banks for a new debt facility.

* Mario Francescotti, president and CEO of Morgan Stanley Asia Pacific is stepping down from his role for personal reasons. In his stead Alasdair Morrison, chairman of the Morgan Stanley Asia will take the CEO responsibilities while Michael Berchtold, who heads up the bank's investment banking will also become president. Francescotti is remaining at Morgan Stanley as a managing director, focusing on several projects including the firm's China-related initiatives and franchise. He reports in to Morrison.

Salomon Smith Barney has retuned its Asia Pacific equity management structure, appointing John Nicolis as head of pan-Asian equities and a member of Salomon's equity management committee. His appointment means that both the Asia Pacific and Australia/New Zealand equities businesses will now report to him in Tokyo, rather than each business separately reporting to New York. Nicolis keeps his role of co- head of Japanese equities at Nikko Salomon Smith Barney.

Bulgaria The Republic of Bulgaria's debt management head, Krassimir Katev, has flatly denied speculation of an imminent tap of its recent Eu250m 2007 dated bond, launched in November by JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.

Salomon Smith Barney has retuned its Asia Pacific equity management structure, appointing John Nicolis as head of pan-Asian equities and a member of Salomon's equity management committee. His appointment means that both the Asia Pacific and Australia/New Zealand equities businesses will now report to him in Tokyo, rather than each business separately reporting to New York. Nicolis keeps his role of co- head of Japanese equities at Nikko Salomon Smith Barney.