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Dollar swap spreads inched down over the course of the week and by the close of trading yesterday (Thursday) they were only 2bp-3bp away from the lows of the year. The five year and 10 year mid-markets were around 79.5bp over Treasuries at the close, about 3bp outside the bottom of the range set in mid-May. Liquidity drained away from the market as the summer season began in earnest. However, a flurry of new issues hit the tape, and the swap business associated with these deals provided the major flows of the week. The combination of low rates, improving secondary market performance and the steep yield curve was too mouth-watering for several corporate treasurers to ignore, despite the season.

Brazil stunned the international markets this week by issuing a ¥200bn two year Samurai, the biggest yen transaction from an emerging markets borrower at a time when the region is still beset by the Argentine crisis. Bookrunner Nomura Securities and joint lead Daiwa SMBC not only went ahead with the issue, but increased it from an original ¥180bn.

Brazil stunned the international markets this week by issuing a ¥200bn two year Samurai, the biggest yen transaction from an emerging markets borrower at a time when the region is still beset by the Argentine crisis. Bookrunner Nomura Securities and joint lead Daiwa SMBC not only went ahead with the issue, but increased it from an original ¥180bn.

Criminal charges against Nina Brink, the former head of World Online, were dropped this week in The Hague, the Netherlands, as prosecutors were unable to find enough evidence to support them. Brink was charged with insider dealing and misleading investors. Charges were brought against Brink following World Online's IPO last year, when Baystar, a US fund manager that controlled more than two-thirds of Brink's holding in the company, sold 1.2m shares in the days following the IPO. The shares were sold by Baystar at their peak as they plummeted by 30% in the week following the IPO.

Carrefour has increased the limit off its Euro-MTN programme from euro6 billion ($5.29 billion) to euro8 billion.

Macquarie Bank has hired Frank Sutrisno, v.p., local markets fixed-income trader at ING Barings in Hong Kong, as a structurer in the structured products group in Sydney. He started in the new position last week and reports to Gary Vassallo, head of derivatives risk in Sydney. Vassallo said he is looking to build up a team for the bank's structured products group. Vassallo continued that there would be further hiring on the horizon but nothing immediate. He declined to elaborate.

Banco Espirito Santo in Portugal this week launched a Eu1.15bn collateralised debt obligation backed by a portfolio of bonds, credit linked notes and credit default swaps to corporates, financial institutions and public finance entities. Jointly lead managed by Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch, the deal was priced almost exactly in line with previous similar Portuguese CDOs, despite the arguably worsening market conditions for this asset class.

The project finance department of Citibank in New York this week launched a $343m securitisation backed by participations in 25 project finance loans originated by Citibank globally. Lead managed by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB), Project Securitisation Co 1 Ltd is just the third term securitisation ever to be backed solely by project finance loans, and it is unique in that the majority of its exposure is in emerging market countries.

Alliance UniChem, the international pharmaceutical concern, will today (Friday) launch a £102m securitisation backed by trade receivables. Lead managed by BNP Paribas (BNPP), the deal is the first ABS in this sector outside the commercial paper or private markets. It is also the first UK ABS term deal backed, in part, by receivables from a UK government body.