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The Republic of Italy has started roadshows for a Eu3bn securitisation backed by revenues from two state lotteries. Lead managed by Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, IntesaBci, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney and UBS Warburg, the deal is part of a securitisation programme organised by the state in order to reduce its debt burden in line with the Maastricht criteria.

SA Home Loans, the largest of the few non-bank providers of mortgages in South Africa, this week launched a R1.25bn ($126m) securitisation - the first in the country to be backed by residential mortgages. Lead managed by JP Morgan and Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank (SCMB), a division of Standard Bank of South Africa, the deal's success could inspire other issuers to now use securitisation.

CIBC World Markets yesterday (Thursday) launched a Eu355m Swiss residential mortgage transaction originated by the state owned Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB). The deal is only the second public mortgage securitisation from Switzerland and may potentially be the first from a new issuance programme from other Kantonalbanks.

Seventeen Spanish savings banks this week launched the second securitisation backed by a pool of cédulas hipotecarias, the Spanish equivalent of German mortgage Pfandbriefe. Arranged by Ahorro Corporación Financiera (ACF), a Spanish securitisation boutique, the transaction was lead managed by Barclays Capital, CDC IXIS, Commerzbank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, HypoVereinsbank and SG.

Dutch mortgage lender ASR Bank this week launched its second securitisation of the year - a Eu1.657bn deal backed by its residential mortgages. Lead managed by Rabobank (books) and Fortis Bank, the deal is the eighth securitisation of Dutch mortgages to be launched this year and is the second largest after Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP's Eu2.2bn deal, STReAM.

The weather derivatives market was buzzing with reports last week that Enron plans to put its weather desk on the block. "People are saying the desk is one of the things Enron would definitely sell as part of a plan to unload assets. Any bank looking to break into the market would definitely be interested," said a weather trader. With Dynegy and Enron reportedly pushing to complete their USD10.5 billion merger by next summer, traders speculated that Enron's 50-strong weather business could be among the causalities of the union. Calls to spokesmen at Dynegy and Enron were not returned before press time. Mark Tawney, head of Enron's weather desk, also did not return calls.

Fitch plans to hire six or seven collateralized debt obligation professionals for its London-based CDO rating team because of the increase in the number of deals coming to the market. Mitchell Lench, senior director in London, said it has about 15 CDOs in the pipeline this month in comparison to five or six this time last year, approximately one-third of these are synthetic or balance sheet transactions.

Siam Commercial Bank, with over THB700 billion (USD15 billion) in assets, is planning to extend its investments in credit derivatives to include credit-default swaps next year. SCB is looking to sell credit-default swaps to take on exposure to businesses it does not have lending relationships with, such as non-Thai organizations. The move comes on the back of the bank wanting to diversify its portfolio because of the deteriorating credit quality of local corporates, said an official.

In the dollar market, numbers speak louder than words. Over $80bn of $1bn plus deals for sovereign, supranational and non-US public sector issuers has hit the market already this year - double the figure for 1999. Add in the $170bn supplied by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and it is clear that investors are spoilt for choice. Here, Seb Boyd reports on the strategies borrowers are pursuing to promote themselves in the dollar market.

BAA, the owner and operator of seven U.K. airports, is considering entering an interest-rate swap on the back of a recent 30-year GBP700 million (USD1 billion) bond offering. The company priced the bonds earlier this month on the same day as the Bank of England and European Central Bank cut rates by 50 basis points. Wan Chow, treasury manager in London, said the bond offering was opportunistic and as a result the company has not yet decided whether it will convert the fixed-rate bond into a floating-rate liability. The airport owner pays a fixed 5.75% coupon on the bond.