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Lehman Brothers has revealed its plans for the Japanese cash equity sales team it has set up in London, composed mainly of former ING Barings bankers. The head of the six strong group is Ashley Kent, who announced in April his departure from ING Barings where he was head of Japanese cash equity sales in Europe. Kent will be joined by David Harris, who was most recently based in New York as head of emerging market sales trading for Crédit Lyonnais.

Meliorbanca has become the fifth Italian private bank to sign a Euro-MTN programme in the last 10 weeks. And the euro1.5 billion ($1.37 billion) Euro-MTN signing gives UniCredit Banca Mobiliare (UBM) its first arrangership of the year. Luca Peviani, Meliorbanca's CFO, says the wide spreads at present mean they will wait until next year to do their first trade. He says: "We have no plans for an inaugural trade because we want to wait to see if the market improves." Peviani is unfazed by the number of Italian banks that have recently joined the market. He says: "The competition is not a worry. We are a small investment bank, very different to the other banks in this sector, and we can be more effective and flexible as a result. We don't need to post aggressive levels all the time." Fitch rates the issuer BBB+ and trading off the programme will be concentrated on the euro sector. The bank's ability to do structures is something that Peviani thinks will entice investors. He says: "We are very strong in structured products, and are able to design issues tailored to investors' needs." The dealers are the arranger, Banca Akros, Banca d'Intermediazione Mobiliare, Banca di Roma, Banca Nazionale del Lavaro, Lehman Brothers, Natexis Banques Populaires, Salomon Smith Barney and UBS Warburg.

Algeria EuroWeek understands that Orascom Telecom may approach the loan market to help finance its $737m contract for the first privately operated GSM lines in Algeria.

While we basked in the Sotogrande sunshine and kept uncustomary hours at night, we had our lines open to Morgan Stanley and CSFB to keep abreast of the latest moves being made by John Mack who is now in total control at CSFB and is, by all accounts, about to conduct a purge which will make Josef Stalin look like a cream puff. Some of the stories coming back about Mr Mack's activities and modus operandi are truly mind-blowing and sounded far fetched to us, even after a lunch time bottle of Fino sherry. One friend said that Mack no longer needed to have a showdown with expensive high tech leader, Frank Quattrone, because there was a business article due to be published very shortly which could reveal all sorts of "problems". At Morgan Stanley, where Quattrone once worked, they are saying that Quattrone is a marked man. Hang in there Frank and prove them wrong.

* Bear Stearns has recruited Mathias Echene and Ricardo Figuerola to its European fixed income distribution business. Echene has started work as a managing director in the French sales team covering fixed income products and credit derivatives. He previously worked on French fixed income products for Citigroup.

Czech Republic Cesky Telekom is awaiting clearance from the Czech anti-trust authorities to proceed with its plans to buy out the remaining shares in EuroTel that it does not already own. Once clearance is gained, Cesky will launch a Eurobond, to be between Eu1bn and Eu1.5bn, that will finance the purchase of the shares.

Denmark Copenhagen Stock Exchange will consider the possibility of an IPO later this year, according to its interim report published on August 16.

* Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG Rating: Aa3/A+/AA-

* Fortis Finance NV Guarantor: Fortis Bank NV

Yesterday saw a good mix of currencies traded outside of the dominant euro, US dollar and yen markets. European Investment Bank concluded a R50 million ($5.96 million) note that pays interest singularly and has a final coupon of 10.500%. The note reaches out for just under 10 years. It is the 37th South African rand trade this year. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development weighed in with a three-year A$815 million ($475.45 million) note. The note pays interest singularly and has a final coupon of 4.800%. Canadian dollar was the currency of choice for Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen Girozentrale who concluded four notes in the currency - three for C$30 million ($19.39 million) and one for C$35 million. HSBC Investment Bank (Netherlands) (HSBC) and Legal and General (Legal) both looked to sterling for its trades. HSBC issued a £

Hong Kong dollar was the dominant other currency traded on Thursday. There were nine trades in Hong Kong dollar - the largest of which being a HK$156 million ($20 million) three-year note from Spintab. The note pays interest annually and has a final coupon of 4.770%. Commonwealth Bank of Australia acted as bookrunner on a four-year HK$80 million trade by Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz Girozentrale. After a relatively quiet week, Singapore dollar made a comeback in the form of three trades from Development Bank of Singapore. The three trades totalled a combined S$0.55 million ($0.31 million). Europaische Hypothekenbank der Deutschen Bank boosted sterling's showing with three trades in that currency. The largest of these was a £

Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank issued in New Zealand dollar. The syndicated NZ$100 million ($43.97 million) note matures in 2005 and pays a final coupon of 7%. It is the 11th note in the currency to be issued this year. All have mid-term maturities of three to five years and the average amount is for NZ$100 million. Deutsche Telekom International Finance was the only borrower to dip into sterling. The £