Fortis Lux Finance is due to sign a euro3 billion ($2.73 billion) Euro-CP programme in the next few days. Fortis Bank is the arranger and guarantor. Jacques Massin, senior manager at Fortis Bank, says: "We will begin trading off the facility once it is signed. It's only a matter of days, and the bulk of our paper will be denominated in euro, US dollar and sterling." It will replace the euro3 billion Euro-CP programme under the name Fortis Ifico. The Ifico programme was domiciled in the Cayman Islands and the new programme, domiciled in Luxembourg, has been set up to take advantage of the tax regulations that apply to companies that are part of the European Union. The dealer panel is yet to be announced, but Massin says it will be similar, if not identical, to the dealer panel on Fortis Ifico's programme. Those dealers are Barclays Capital, Citibank, Credit Suisse First Boston, Fortis Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, NatWest Global Financial Markets and UBS Warburg.
October 12, 2001