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Argentina has taken what some fear are its first steps towards default by planning a local debt swap of as much as $14bn of old bonds at below market rates.

Retail and institutional investors are set go to court over the collapse of Railtrack, with lawyers offering differing ideas as to how best to form a case against the government. Class Law, a niche UK law firm specialising in lawsuits, said that just five days after issuing an appeal, 3,500 private investors had come forward.

Retail and institutional investors are set go to court over the collapse of Railtrack, with lawyers offering differing ideas as to how best to form a case against the government. Class Law, a niche UK law firm specialising in lawsuits, said that just five days after issuing an appeal, 3,500 private investors had come forward.

It is never too early to enter the party spirit at Merrill Lynch it seems. Dean Fogg, dogged MTN trader at the bank, arrived back from a break in Amsterdam last week and obviously did not get his full quota of revelry. He was looking forward to a free wine tasting do last night with his sales team and the crowd at Citibank Credit Structures, but unfortunately had to miss it because his train line wasn't running late enough. Having heard what Anthony Everill's bedtime is on a night out (3.45 am, to be precise) we're not surprised. If you still feel like knocking back a few drinks next week though Dean, BNP Paribas is hosting its vodka and caviar event on Wednesday. And the very next day Daniel Cogoi, head trader at BNP and the market's favourite for the December slot in our 2002 calendar, will be speaking at the MTN conference. The fact that he needs to be talking coherently by 9am after a night on the booze might have deterred less hardy folk. The MTN origination seat at Merrill is still vacant after Rodolfo Diotallevi's departure a month ago. The word is it may be staying that way for a while...

Goldman Sachs raised Eu111m as it completed a block trade in Munich Re, the German reinsurance company, this week. The risk trade on Monday of 390,000 shares was priced at Eu285. This offered a 4.5% discount to Munich Re's open on Monday morning. The deal was 10 times oversubscribed and gives some indication of the value that is still left in the insurance sector. Having taken an initial hit from investors after the attacks of September 11, the insurance sector is now back to pre-September 11 levels.

Jobs are to go at Commerzbank as it announced further cost cutting measures following a profit warning for the third quarter. Although the bank has said it is not for sale, the news led to renewed speculation about a possible takeover. "It is difficult to see what Commerzbank can do themselves," said Olivier Szwarcberg, a bank analyst at Bear Stearns. "Apparently they have identified costs as the area where they need to improve, but their track record with cost-cutting is hardly impressive."

The City of Moscow prised open the long awaited market for Russian debt this week by pulling off its Eu300m three year issue through lead managers ING Barings and UBS Warburg.

ahrain More details have emerged this week on the bank groups being formed for the bidding for the financing mandate on the $1.7bn Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) expansion project.

The Hungarian development bank, Magyar Fejlesztési Bank (MFB) is talking to banks about Eu400m-Eu500m of borrowings to pay for the purchase of a 51% stake in the gas interests of Hungarian oil company MOL. MFB is a 100% state owned public agency, and EuroWeek understands that the borrowings will carry a state guarantee. MFB is considering either a loan or a bond. However, it is considering a 10 year maturity, and bankers say that this will probably rule out the possibility of a loan.

The City of Moscow prised open the long awaited market for Russian debt this week by pulling off its Eu300m three year issue through lead managers ING Barings and UBS Warburg.

* Steve Abrahams is to leave the capital markets division at the Inter-American Development Bank, which he has run for 10 years. He remains with the bank as executive secretary of its oversight committee on fraud and corruption, which was set up in March to monitor loans and projects for ethical problems.

Bulgaria The Republic of Bulgaria's 2002 budget has been revealed, but does not include details of a planned active debt management strategy. The forecast budget deficit is 0.8% of GDP, though the government may seek a higher figure when it meets the IMF again later this year.