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It was the normal comparatively slow start to the week in yen. Twenty-seven trades were announced yesterday, compared to over 40 on Friday. Although the financials were still popular, there was only one corporate company doing business. DaimlerChrysler Australia Pacific did a ¥6 billion ($49.91 million) one-year note that pays a final coupon of 0.3%. Svensk Exportkredit was one of two public finance issuers announcing trades. It did a ¥7 billion five-year note via Tsubasa, formerly known as New Japan Securities. The deal was callable semi-annually and had an FX-rate trigger attached. The other public finance borrower was Eksportfinans, with a 20-year ¥500 million power reverse dual currency (PRDC) trade callable annually. Kommuninvest I Sverige, also from Scandinavia, did a ¥500 million capped PRDC non-callable for the first three years, callable annually thereafter. It goes out to September 2026 and Merrill Lynch was the bookrunner. Japanese issuers have maintained some steady issuing. Tokyo-Mitsubishi International did a ¥2 billion six-month note that pays a final coupon of 0.3% and a ¥3 billion not with the same maturity date. Tokai Bank Nederland announced a ¥1.1 billion trade via Tokai Bank Europe. It was a Bermudan callable PRDC. And Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe did two deals. One was for ¥1 billion and goes out to September 2016, the other was for ¥500 million and goes out to September 2021.

Trades were sparse in the yen sector on Thursday. And although the total volume was $533 million-worth, almost 80% of this was done in one trade by Nomura Global Funding. The ¥50 billion ($415.92 million) note goes out to October 2006 and pays a final coupon of 0.6%. Other financials included Morgan Stanley (Structured Products) Jersey, which announced a ¥500.28 million note. It matures in March next year. And Societe Generale Acceptance did a ¥108 million three-month trade. Dresdner Bank came to the market with a ¥100 million three-month deal. And Westland/Utrecht Hypotheekbank did a ¥300 million 10-year trade. The only nation that issued more than two deals was France, with seven. As well as SGA's note, BNP Paribas did three trades between ¥100 million and ¥300 million. Two had terms of 20 years and one had a term of 10 years. Credit Agricole Indosuez announced two ¥100 million deals with terms of 20 and 30 years. Oresundsbro Konsortiet, the triple-A construction company from Sweden, did its first trade of 2001. It was a ¥1 billion note that goes out to September 2021.

Financial repackaged issuers were doing the most yen business yesterday, though the total number of trades is half what it normally is. BOATS Investments (Jersey) announced a ¥1 billion (8.32 million) five-year note and Earls Seven, the Deutsche Bank-arranged conduit, did a ¥5 billion seven-year trade that pays 1.16%. Helix Investments II closed a ¥1 billion eight-year note, and Voyager (Cayman) did two deals. One was a ¥300 million note that goes out to September 2004, and the other a ¥500 million trade that matures in September 2005. Only two private banks announced any deals. BNP Paribas did four trades between ¥100 million and ¥3 billion. Two have terms of one year and two have terms of 30 years. And Tokyo-Mitsubishi International announced a ¥200 million note that matures in December this year. One gic-backed borrower was getting involved. Jackson National Life Global Funding announced a ¥2 billion deal that goes out to November 2006. JP Morgan was the bookrunner. MMC International Finance (Netherlands) did a ¥2.3 billion three-month trade. And HSBC led a deal for Banque et Caisse d'Epargne de l'Etat Luxembourg. It was a ¥1 billion trade that goes out to September 2011.

Société Générale has put all new equity derivatives products on hold while it re-evaluates the situation in the aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks, according to Dan Fields, managing director of equity derivatives in Sydney.

Like the rest of the world's bond markets, the asset backed market halted abruptly after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on Tuesday. In the US, the safety of missing family and friends and the suffering of the bereaved were uppermost in everyone's thoughts.

* Rabobank on Monday launched a Eu210m issuance from Colonnade Securities BV, the club funding vehicle for local social housing institutions in the Netherlands. The vehicle was set up by ING Barings-BBL in 1998 to give housing associations an alternative to the Dutch private placement market. Proceeds are transferred to the borrowers as loans matching the 10 year fixed rate bullet bonds.

The Korea Deposit Insurance Corp successfully launched its first securitisation on Monday afternoon in New York. The $278m deal, wrapped by triple-A rated monoline insurer Ambac, was the fruit of 10 months' work by joint bookrunners Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and SG, and by their domestic arranger partners Daewoo Securities and Hyundai Securities.

Interest-rate derivatives market makers expect a surge in demand from Danish pension funds looking to receive fixed in derivatives to hedge fixed-rate guaranteed annuity liabilities as regulators force funds to examine the issue. They also predict the trend will spread across Europe. One estimated there is still EUR30-40 billion (USD27-36 billion) of business to execute, with approximately EUR10 billion executed since July.

ABN AMRO in London has launched a group that will cater to ultra high-net-worth clients seeking to diversify their portfolios through the use of derivatives, risk arbitrage and private equity investments, according to a company official. "The group will do everything that involves investing assets and making more out of it," a company official said. Jan Ebel Bos, managing director of marketing in the global equity derivatives group, and Eelco Rooimans, global head of equity derivatives trading in London, are the co-heads of the new group, called the global wealth structuring and advisory group. Bos and Rooimans declined to comment.

John Lima, a U.S. dollar spot and options trader for Deutsche Bank in London, has moved to the firm's New York office to trade short-dated options. Lima's move is part of the bank's effort to consolidate its short-dated options trading into one book. The new book combines the old risk books of mortgage options, Treasury options, agency options and shorter-dated (less than six months) swaptions, according to Kinol. He expects the aggregation of risks to pump up liquidity and reduce risks by netting positions against each other. Lima will be replaced internally, according to Kinol.

Export Development Corp., a state-owned company that provides insurance, financing and guarantees to Canadian exporters, recently entered into a CAD500 million (USD300 million) cross-currency interest-rate swap on the back of a bond issue of the same size. Chad Buffel, portfolio manager, said the maturity on the swap is 10 years, matching the maturity on the bond. In the swap EDC pays a sub six-month U.S. dollar-LIBOR rate and receives a rate equal to the 5.75% coupon on the bond. EDC opted to borrow in Canadian dollars because a Canadian investor wanted paper denominated in that currency. It entered a swap to hedge the foreign exchange risk because 90% of its assets are in U.S. dollars. The move also allowed EDC to fund the deal at a price that was more attractive than borrowing in U.S. dollars. EDC is paying a floating rate as a way to match the floating assets with liabilities. The counterparty in the swap was an undisclosed Canadian investment bank. Buffel noted, however, that EDC only deals with counterparties with a rating above double A.

Barclays Capital plans to hire an agencies strategist for its New York-based derivatives operation. It expects to have the position filled by early next year, said Brad Stone, head of U.S. fixed income marketing and derivatives strategy. It is a new position being created to meet the burgeoning U.S. agencies market, which Stone noted is increasingly becoming a large part of the U.S. high-grade market. He said the agencies business has nearly doubled over the last four years. "We feel it will require a full-time strategist," he added.