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Investors diversified their currency portfolios yesterday and other currencies made up over 11.5% of the market volume. Hong Kong dollar is getting back on form and was the choice of four issuers, but was not used in trades longer than three months. HSBC Investment Bank (Netherlands) closed four HK$80 million ($10.26 million) with maturities between five weeks and two months. Credit Lyonnais Finance issued a HK$8 million two-month note and Development Bank of Singapore also dipped into the currency with a HK$10.19 million 30-day trade, along with its S$1 million ($569,150) 30-day note. Credit Lyonnais Finance also issued in Swiss franc with a Sfr1.60 million ($946, 740) 11-month note and a Sfr3 million one-year trade that pays a final coupon of 10.850%. Province of British Columbia was in Canadian dollar with a maturity of 24 years. The C$200 million ($130.06 million) pays a final coupon of 5.25%. And Commerzbank was in South African rand, lead managed by Royal Bank of Canada Europe. The syndicated trade had nine co-leads. The R100 million ($12.09 million) pays a final coupon of 9%. It is the fourth note in this currency from Commerzbank this year and 35th overall this year.

Other currencies took a larger slice of the pie that usual, with 10 deals in sterling, Swiss franc, Hong Kong or Australian dollar, making up over 15% of the market. Nine of the 10 trades came from the banking sector. Barclays Bank closed a £

Just seven trades were announced yesterday in currencies other than yen, euro and US dollar. This sector saw credits that range between A3, A1 and Aa2. And the mid-term maturity bracket was the most heavily populated. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, rated A3 by Moody's, announced a Swedish krona note for Skr350 million ($34.50 million), maturing in four years. It pays a final coupon of 2.4%. Australian dollar attracted two names. Bank of Western Australia, rated A1 by Moody's, closed a A$100 million ($52.90 million) three-year note that pays interest quarterly. And Development Bank of Singapore closed a four-year deal for A$200,000. Westland/Utrecht Hypotheekbank, rated Aa2 by Moody's, was the only borrower in sterling yesterday. Its £

Proof that Latin credits unaffected by Argentina can readily attract US institutional investor demand was further provided this week when Pemex launched a blowout $600m 3-1/2 year bond issue. The deal, led by Lehman Brothers, was increased from $500m and priced at 230bp over the 3-1/2 year February 2005 Treasury, at the tight end of its 230bp-235bp price talk. It rose to 100.15bp after being free to trade.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) exploited its strong first half results this week with a blowout regulatory tier one issue, garnering $3bn-$4bn of interest for a $750m deal within hours of its announcement.

* DePfa Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) exploited its strong first half results this week with a blowout regulatory tier one issue, garnering $3bn-$4bn of interest for a $750m deal within hours of its announcement.

RWE, the German utility, has started issuing off its euro2 billion ($1.83 billion) Euro-CP programme. The programme was signed on June 1 and RWE made its first steps in the CP market on Friday, August 10. Dietmar Ehlers is RWE's head of treasury. He says: "We started issuing last Friday and all the seven dealers were involved. It worked very well and we are very happy. We had a funding target of between euro500 million and euro700 million when we signed the programme. We are already within that range, so we have already reached our target, even though we have only been issuing for five days." The trades were well received and Ehlers adds: "We started with euro tranches, just to get in the market and show our name to the investors. There was good demand. Our name is already well recognized. We have already had a big roadshow in April for bonds issued off our MTN programme. That was our first step in the capital markets for many years. This was a good time for us to issue because we have no pressure to finance at the moment." RWE's euro5 billion Euro-MTN programme was signed in March this year and the arrangers were Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. RWE kept these two arrangers for the Euro-CP shelf, giving Merrill Lynch its first Euro-CP arrangership since it arranged its own shelf in 1993. It is Merrill Lynch's first appointment as a dealer off a Euro-CP programme in 2001. Deutsche Bank has been appointed to a total of seven Euro-CP arrangerships in 2001. Moody's has assigned the borrower Aa3 long-term ratings and P-1 short-term ratings. RWE's subsidiary, RWE Energie, is Germany's number one electricity provider. RWE recently acquired UK Water company, Thames Water. The Euro-CP dealer panel comprises Bayerische Landesbank, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, HSBC, Merrill Lynch and Westdeutsche Landesbank.

Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB) completed a £80m block trade in BHP Billiton, the Melbourne-based global mining company, on Tuesday. In a rare piece of activity on the European equity capital markets SSSB managed to price the deal at a tight discount of less than 1%. The 24.7m shares sold by De Beers Consolidated Mines were priced at 320p, just below the previous day's close of 323p. The sale of this stake, representing 1.1% of BHP Billiton, means that De Beers, which picked up the shares in an equity swap, has sold its entire holding in the company.

* Commerzbank AG Rating: Aa3/A+

Finland This week, Sampo extended its Nkr20.8bn (Eu2.6bn) offer for Storebrand, Norway's largest insurance group for the second time since the bid was launched in May 2001.

* Alliance & Leicester Group Treasury plc Guarantor: Alliance & Leicester plc