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Unión De Créditos Inmobiliarios (UCI), the Spanish mortgage lender owned by Banco Santander Central Hispano and BNP Paribas, last Friday launched its latest securitisation, once again lead managed by its owners. The triple-A notes on the deal priced at the same level as other recent comparable European mortgage deals indicating that the market has found its level for triple-A mortgage backed bonds.

Banca Lombarda e Piemontese this week launched a Eu210m semi-synthetic collateralised debt obligation backed by US and European corporate bonds and credit default swaps, via BNP Paribas. Cidneo Finance, a static arbitrage vehicle, is the second Italian semi-synthetic transaction to suffer wider pricing due to the events of September 11, which have pushed out spreads on CDO paper, while also reducing the value of the underlying assets.

Bipielle Ducato, one of Italy's largest non-captive consumer credit companies and part of the Banca Popolare di Lodi group, this week launched a Eu498m securitisation backed by unsecured personal and auto loan receivables. Lead managed by JP Morgan, Crédit Agricole Indosuez and Caboto-Gruppo IntesaBci, the deal followed a glut of Italian ABS issues and priced wide of comparable Italian consumer loan deals.

Abbey National, the UK's second largest mortgage bank, this week launched its third mortgage backed securitisation of the year taking its total issuance to almost £7.5bn in 2001. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), Lehman Brothers and Salomon Smith Barney, Abbey offered almost £2.5bn worth of bonds in dollars, euros and sterling, complementing the Sfr400m piece it sold last week via CSFB .

Statens Bostadsfinansieringsaktiebolag (SBAB), the Swedish National Housing Finance Corp, this week issued the second securitisation in its SRM Investment series, this time with a dollar tranche and an asset class previously unseen in the Scandinavian market. "We set a couple of new benchmarks for Scandinavia," said Ashley Kibblewhite, director of ABS syndicate at lead manager Merrill Lynch in London. "This is the first time tenant-owner loans have been used in a transaction out of Sweden and the first with a 144A piece."

JP Morgan this week released details of a £43m whole business securitisation backed by the assets of Red Funnel, the ferry and haulage company that operates between the south of England and the Isle of Wight. The securitisation follows the company's recent acquisition by JP Morgan Partners, the bank's private equity arm, and around £35m of capital investment to renovate the group's fleet and infrastructure.

Harbourmaster CLO 2 Limited, Euro Capital Structure's Eu603m arbitrage CDO backed by sub-participations in sub-investment grade loans, is preparing to launch next week. Price talk is around 55bp for the triple-A piece, 130bp for the single-A notes, 220bp on the triple-B and 650bp for double-B paper. * BNP Paribas is roadshowing LTR Finance No 3 plc, a Eu202m securitisation of Spanish and Portuguese auto loans and Portuguese long-term rental and commercial finance lease receivables originated by Sofinloc, a finance company owned by Portugal's Banco Finantia.

ABN Amro is preparing to launch the first publicly rated Austrian loan and leasing securitisation, a Eu400m deal backed by assets originated by Porsche Bank AG. Two tranches of floating rate notes will be issued by FACT-2001 Ltd, a special purpose vehicle registered in Jersey. A Eu384m piece rated triple-A by Moody's and Standard & Poor's with an average life of 1.8 years will be issued above a Eu16m single-A tranche with 4.7 year average life. All notes have legal maturity of December 2007 and will begin amortising immediately on closing.

Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) of Portugal last Friday launched its second securitisation backed by a portfolio of consumer loans, leases and long term rentals originated by three of its subsidiaries, BPN Creditus, BPN Rent and BPN Leasing. Lead managed by bookrunner Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, the deal is the first to be launched this year to be backed solely by Portuguese collateral.

The market watched closely as the first equity and equity-linked deal out of non-Japan Asia after September 11 was launched, providing an important gauge of investor sentiment. Pauline Loong finds that institutions are still looking at the same issues: fair pricing and a good credit story.

Meet Minsheng Bank: China's only privately-owned financial institution. If accession to WTO means Chinese entrepreneurs stand to benefit from new opportunities, then Minsheng is in a strong position to gain market share from the vastly bigger state-owned banks. By Pauline Loong

Australian companies' capital management has come along in leaps and bounds. The humble bean counter is fading into the past, as more and more financial officers take their place on boards of directors. Fiona Haddock talks to two of the country's top financial chiefs to see just what fiscal management means to them and the companies they represent.