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Swiss Reinsurance has raised the ceiling off its debt issuance programme from $1 billion to $2 billion.

Banca Popolare Commercio and Industria (BPCI) put its name to a euro1 billion ($854.96 million) Euro-MTN programme last week, June 13 2001. Schroder Salomon Smith Barney has won the mandate to act as arranger off the programme. It is the eighth Italian Bank to sign an MTN programme since the beginning of 2000, including Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, one of BPCI's direct rivals, which signed its euro7 billion Euro-MTN programme in June last year. The programme also marks the first time that Schroder Salomon Smith Barney has arranged an Italian programme since 1999. The last time was for Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna's euro3 billion Euro-MTN programme in July that year. BPCI has more than 200 branches in central and northern Italy and seeks new customers through frequent acquisitions, expansion of its product line and an emphasis on credit lending. The dealers off the programme are the arranger, ABN Amro, Banca Intermobiliare, Barclays Capital, Credit Agricole Indosuez, Deutsche Bank and Unicredit Banca Mobiliare.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein launched a $100m three year Eurobond last Friday for Bank TuranAlem (BTA), the first ever from Kazakhstan's third largest bank. The deal, rated B1/B, provides the first new Eurobond from Kazakhstan since the republic's $350m seven year transaction in April 2000. It also offers an attractive 11.5% coupon, priced to yield 11.85%, along with the promise of diversification out of the rocky Latin market.

British Telecommunications on Monday raised a further £890m from its tender offer, after confounding critics by achieving an 89.5% take-up for its £5.9bn rights issue. Successful completion of the deal was vital for the embattled telco which is attempting to cut its debt mountain and restore its credibility in both debt and equity markets. The initial rights issue was priced at a 47% discount to the share price before Merrill Lynch and Cazenove launched the deal on May 10.

Helaba is expected to launch the long awaited DM1.1bn leveraged loan backing Apax Partners' purchase of German state printing press Bundesdrückerei to the market on June 27. The bank won the mandate to arrange the financing in December last year. However, the deal was delayed and then increased from DM900m following Apax Partners' acquisition of UK company Security Printing Systems (SPS) through the Bundesdrückerei holding company. The loan was then held until the jumbo facility for Messer Griesheim cleared the market, which it did last week when the loan went free to trade.

Caixa Geral de Depositos is set to issue a ¥300 million ($2.43 million) note on June 21. The MTN matures on February 21 2031. The note pays interest singularly and has a final coupon of 4.000%. The issuer follows this trade a week later by a ¥500 million ($4.05 million) note that reaches out to July 7 2021. The note pays interest singularly and has a final coupon of 4.010%.

Cadbury Schweppes has dropped ABN Amro and Toronto Dominion Bank as dealers from its £

Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid (Caja Madrid) launched a benchmark cédulas hipotecarias transaction yesterday (Thursday), awakening the dormant covered bond sector. Joint books Barclays Capital, CDC, Caja Madrid, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstien and SG will price the Eu1bn 15 year offering today (Friday) at 14bp over mid-swaps.

* Landesbank Baden-Württemberg Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Moscow Narodny Bank (MNB) has become the first Russia linked credit to enter the market since the August 1998 collapse of the Russian government GKO bond market. The bond is a $100m three year FRN, offering a coupon of Libor plus 200bp, and was priced at a discount to give a total spread of 270bp. "This is a risk-mitigated Russian credit, which proves that the market is open to Russian names," said Tim Kennedy of UBS Warburg origination in London. "This bond has been placed in the banking market, where MNB's name is very well known, having operated in London since 1919."

Credit Suisse First Boston has followed up its successful Eu2bn secondary offering of Alstom in February with a further placement of Eu800m of the stock. The offering was described by a banker who worked on the deal as "quite unprecedented", adding that he had "never seen anything like this happening so quickly". The French engineering group's share price has outperformed the market ever since its overhang was resolved in February. Alcatel and Marconi had created a drag on Alstom's stock since its IPO in 1997.