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State owned Korean power company Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco) embarked on the roadshow this week for its second Euroyen bond issue of the year. Barclays Capital and Merrill Lynch are joint lead managing the Euroyen Uridashi transaction, which is slated to be a ¥25bn three year deal. Kepco is relying on its strong name recognition with Japanese investors to ensure that the issue is successful. "The investor reception to the deal looked good and we are now discussing the potential pricing levels," said a banker at Merrill Lynch. "The Uridashi format has a distribution window of between October 31 and November 14, so we will have to proceed soon."

Korea Tobacco & Ginseng (KT&G) on Wednesday completed the first large international equity raising from Asian emerging markets since September 11, with a $553m combined convertible bond and GDR offering. The roadshow for the deal began on October 11, having originally been set for September 13. Late Wednesday Hong Kong time, bankers, government officials and KT&G executives agreed the final structure of the deal after a strong response from the international financial community. Bankers reported that the GDR book was more than four times oversubscribed and the convertible book 15 times covered.

A second round of senior unsecured bonds issued by Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) were being placed into the secondary market by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) this week, even as the telco was looking at launching a new jumbo global transaction. Following another bidding process, Cable & Wireless (C&W) investors mandated CSFB to place $255m of five and seven year bonds, after Merrill Lynch's placement of $440m of bonds on behalf of C&W investors in early September.

Australia In a sign that investor confidence is returning, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) launched a two tranche deal for itself this week. The issue comprises A$250m of fixed and A$150m of floating rate tranches, both of which have a maturity of November 2004. CBA was sole lead manager, with Deutsche Bank and UBS Warburg joining as co-leads for the fixed rate tranche. Bankers familiar with the issue said that the deal was getting a positive reception after its launch.

Bankers and other advisers working with the Thai government on the planned IPO of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) will meet in Bangkok this weekend and will decide whether to proceed with the offering and what the marketing range for the deal should be. If the deal goes ahead, as is expected, it is likely to be modestly priced. The offer size will be in the range of Bt20bn-Bt30bn, to value the company at between Bt60bn-Bt100bn. At the mid-point of the offer size, the deal will raise around $560m from domestic and international investors.

Reports in the UK national press this week that lenders to the National Air Traffic System (NATS) Private Finance Initiative/ Public Private Partnerships (PFI/PPP) project have encouraged the consortium to seek a government bail-out have been dismissed by the deal's mandated lead arrangers and underwriters Abbey National Treasury Services, Bank of America, Barclays Capital and Halifax, which describe the reports as pure speculation. Because of the airline crisis, the Railtrack fiasco and widespread union and public concern over the privatisation of the air traffic system, this deal is beginning to attract political significance.

Reports in the UK national press this week that lenders to the National Air Traffic System (NATS) Private Finance Initiative/ Public Private Partnerships (PFI/PPP) project have encouraged the consortium to seek a government bail-out have been dismissed by the deal's mandated lead arrangers and underwriters Abbey National Treasury Services, Bank of America, Barclays Capital and Halifax, which describe the reports as pure speculation. Because of the airline crisis, the Railtrack fiasco and widespread union and public concern over the privatisation of the air traffic system, this deal is beginning to attract political significance.

Globals * BellSouth Corp

Fifteen notes were issued in US dollar, which made up over one third of the market by volume. National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance closed its fifth trade this year. The $100 million trade matures in one month's time. The borrower's trades this year have all been in yen and two were through Mizuho, while Lehman Brothers did the other two. HSBC Bank USA is back in full swing and issued five short-term trades in US dollar. One for $1.10 million goes out 30 days, while the other four are for amounts between $190,000 and $500,000 and go out six months. GMAC International Finance closed a $45 million one-year note that pays interest quarterly. Oesterreichische Kontrollbank issued a $250 million non-syndicated trade via Nomura. The straight fixed rate note pays a coupon of 3% semi annually and is non-callable. Commonwealth Bank of Australia also closed two trades: a $18 million five-year note and a $10 million 10-year deal. The first pays a final coupon of 4.750% and both pay interest semi-annually.

Over $2 billion was raised in US dollar. Royal Bank of Scotland closed two trades in US dollar. One was non-call-three months trade for $20 million, with a Bermudan call option every three months thereafter. Salomon Smith Barney led the deal, which is due on October 24 and goes out to October 24 2003. It is a range accrual with a coupon capped at 4% and a target of 3.8%. Royal Bank of Scotland also closed an equity-linked note for $10 million via BNP Paribas and ABN Amro. The four-and-a-half year note pays a coupon linked to the performance of the Nasdaq100 and the S&P500, capped at 10%. Svensk Exportkredit closed a $600 million trade lead-managed by Nomura. The five-year syndicated note pays a final coupon of 4.625% and interest is paid annually. Oresundsbro Konsortiet issued a $20 million one-year FRN via Lehman Brothers. Interest is linked to 3m $Libor -13.5bp and is non-callable.

Eighteen trades were issued in US dollar and bank names dominated at the short end. Two financials and Jackson National Life Funding were the only non-bank names in dollar. Jackson National Life Funding closed a $75 million three-year and three-month note. Artesia Overseas issued a $12.15 million three year trade and BOATS Investments (Jersey) closed a $30 million deal that goes out two years and 10 months. At the short end HSBC Bank USA closed a $250,000 one-month trade and Credit Lyonnais Financial Products closed two $10 million four-month trades. One is due to be settled on November 5 and pays a final coupon of 18.360% and the other is due on November 12 and pays a final coupon of 19.050%. Both trades are reverse convertible and are linked to the Nasdaq100 QQQ. The mid-term was busy, in particular the three-year sector with seven trades. And the long-term was thinner on the ground, although Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten stuck its neck out with a 20-year $10 million note. The note is a 20-non-call-three and is callable every three years throughout the duration of the note. The coupon pays interest at 6.15% and the coupon is paid every three years on a compound basis. Morgan Stanley managed the deal.

* City of Montreal Amount: $54m (increased from $34m)