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* Crédit Agricole looks set to test investor sentiment this year as observers suggest that a syndicate has started to be formed. European banks were this week pitching to be part of the proposed Crédit Agricole IPO. Bankers also suggested this week that the unit could be worth up to $18bn, giving a value to the IPO, which is expected to represent 30% of the company, of $5.4bn.

* City of Montréal Rating: A2/A+

Fourteen trades were closed in other currencies on Friday. Caisse Centrale du Credit Immobilier de France was busy in Polish zloty. It issued a Z40 million ($9.63 million) five-year note. The note, which pays interest semi-annually, pays an initial coupon of 14.5%. The note pays a final coupon of 6m (Polish) Wibor (Warsaw inter-bank offered rate) and was issued at a price of 100%. Commerzbank was the bookrunner. Kommuninvest saw opportunities in Swedish krona. It issued a Skr200 million ($18.93 million) four-year index-linked note. The note is part linked to the S&P 500, the Topix and the Dow Jones. The note was self-led by Kommuninvest. Skandia Capital also saw opportunities in the currency. It issued a Skr100 million two-year note that will be issued on October 19 2001. Hong Kong dollar was the most active currency choice and seven deals were closed. The largest trade was issued by Union Bank of Norway: a HK$120 million ($15.39 million) seven-year note that pays a final coupon of 5.54%. The note will be issued on October 30 2001. Credit Lyonnais Finance closed the smallest Hong Kong dollar trade. Its HK$8 million note goes out to December 2001 and will be issued on October 26 2001. HSBC found opportunities at the short-end. It closed three HK$80 million trades. The longest trade goes out to December 12 2001. The sterling market was also fairly active. Three deals were closed: two £

It was a quiet day in the markets for other currencies yesterday and sterling and Hong Kong dollar were the only active currency choices. Only four trades were closed but Tesco saw opportunities in sterling and issued a £

Deals in other currencies picked up after a disappointing day on Monday and 11 deals were closed yesterday. European Investment Bank (EIB) was largely responsible for this increase in activity: it closed six sterling trades that all go out more than 10 years. Its longest trade was a £

* Allgemeine Hypothekenbank AG Rating: Aa2/AA+

The Eu500m-Eu700m five year bond for Polish oil and gas company, PGNiG, is expected to be issued either today (Friday) or early next week, according to lead manager ABN Amro. One banker hoping to be in the syndicate for the deal told EuroWeek that the offering has already attracted a book of Eu600m. Price talk is in the area of 250bp over swaps.

* World Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Ford, struggling with dismal third quarter earnings and this week's two notch downgrade by Standard & Poor's (S&P), has announced a $3bn plus five and 30 year global bond at price guidance not far away from where Mexico trades. In a demonstration of just how wide Ford credit spreads have gone in recent months, price guidance on the Ford Motor Credit January 2007 tranche is 275bp-285bp, at a time when Mexico 2006s trade around 304bp bid, 286bp offered.

Portman Building Society has raised the limit off its Euro-MTN programme to £

Private Media Group, the Spanish pornography distributor, has decided to postpone its proposed secondary listing in Germany. Despite being voted by Forbes Global Magazine as one of the 20 best small companies in the world in which to invest, a spokesman for the company said it has decided to wait until there is more security in the market. "We are waiting until the world is a bit more stable," said Berth Milton, Private Media's chairman. But the spokesman added that there had been strong growth in Private Media's industry and it expected to proceed with the listing in the near future.

UK project financiers specialising in Private Finance Initiative and Public Private Partnership (PFI/PPP) business are assessing the impact on their market of the government's decision to place Railtrack plc into administration. Bankers emphasise that Railtrack was not itself a PFI/PPP scheme. But the mess has damaged the UK government's reputation and political risk has been pushed further up the spectrum of risks which bankers assess in structuring and financing PFI/PPP deals. Capital raising for public sector sponsored projects will be more expensive as enhanced political risk will require a premium. Indeed, the next big transport project, the £2.1bn London Underground PPP scheme is likely to carry a premium to take into account political risk at the devolved level. A banker noted the London mayor's opposition to the scheme: "There will be a definite Livingstone [the mayor] premium now."