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Household International was rewarded for its strong performance during harder economic times this week when it launched a blowout $2bn 10 year global bond. The deal, led by Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Salomon Smith Barney, attracted more than $6bn of orders, enabling Household to increase the deal from $1.5bn and price at the tight end of its 180bp-185bp guidance.

The $685m loan for Imperial Chemical Industries plc (ICI) has been signed after a rough reception in the market for the famous Euromarketeer. The prevailing caution in the loan market since the attacks in the US on September 11, and the low ebb of the chemicals sector, dogged the deal through syndication.

Sri Lanka Banks have been signed into the $80m short term trade related facility for Bank of Ceylon. The deal was launched at $75m and because of strong market response, it was closed oversubscribed and increased to $80m.

ASML launched the first European convertible since the US terrorist attacks, but despite overwhelming investor demand the deal performed abysmally in the aftermarket. Morgan Stanley launched the deal on Wednesday for the Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer. The deal was 10 times oversubscribed, but suffered when the terms were revised and the size increased from $350m to $500m. The stock price fell by 11% on the day, effectively giving the bond a conversion premium of 40%.

Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and BNP Paribas offered some hope to the markets this week by showing that investors were prepared to take some risk in small capitalisation stocks. BNP Paribas completed a Eu20m accelerated bookbuild in Genesis Conferencing, the French teleconferencing company. The sale, representing 10% of Genesis's market capitalisation, was priced at Eu14.70 to offer a 7.3% discount to the last trade and a 12% discount to the previous day's close.

The Republic of Italy has this week taken steps to promote liquidity in its dollar global securities by setting up a dealer programme and inaugurating the programme with a $3bn five year global bond. The republic has appointed a core dealer group of 10 banks that are committed to trade Italy's global bonds from their agency trading desks and to use their best efforts to have the bonds eligible to trade on TradeWeb. In addition, bookrunners of specific deals have committed to trade the relevant bond on a maximum 1bp bid/offer spread on ticket sizes of up to $25m.

The Italian treasury this week mandated Banca IMI, Deutsche Bank, IntesaBci and Lehman Brothers to lead manage a Eu2bn-Eu3bn securitisation of residential property owned by Italian state entities, including INPS and INAIL. The transaction will be the first under a government programme to dispose of real estate with an estimated book value of between Eu15bn and Eu30bn.

Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) has completed its strategic issuance for the year with a three year euro benchmark that came inside all but three of the European sovereigns, effectively legitimising its claims to be treated as a government credit. The Eu5bn deal, through bookrunners Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, "seems," one syndicate official said, "to have been the right deal for the market."

Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) has completed its strategic issuance for the year with a three year euro benchmark that came inside all but three of the European sovereigns, effectively legitimising its claims to be treated as a government credit. The Eu5bn deal, through bookrunners Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, "seems," one syndicate official said, "to have been the right deal for the market."

Morgan Stanley's credit derivatives team took part in an evacuation drill at one of the firm's London offices late Wednesday to test preparedness in the event of an anthrax attack. The firm evacuated its offices at 20 Cabot Square in London's Canary Wharf, according to a derivatives official involved in the drill. Euart Glendinning, a spokesman at Morgan Stanley in London, did not return calls.

Banca Popolare di Spoleto, the regional bank majority owned by Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, this week launched its first securitisation - a Eu271m semi-synthetic collateralised debt obligation backed by investment grade bonds and credit default swaps. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston and MPS Finance, the deal sheds the risk of 37 corporate bonds from BPS' balance sheet. To diversify this pool, exposure to 31 US and European investment grade names is added through credit default swaps, totaling Eu155m, between CSFB and Anthea.