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US insurance firm American International Group this week hit back at critics of its stance on the Hollywood Funding film finance securitisations, which were credit enhanced by AIG insurance policies, after the English Court of Appeal published a judgment on a related case. The Hollywood deals were a string of securitisations that Credit Suisse First Boston placed privately for Flashpoint Ltd, a Jersey registered film finance company, in 1997 and 1998.

Cetlem, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas and the largest consumer finance company in France, this week launched a Eu320m deal from its MasterNoria master trust vehicle, which parcels its consumer loans. Lead managed by BNP Paribas, the deal is Cetlem's seventh issue and the fourth to use the MasterNoria vehicle, set up in October 1998. Investors are now used to the structure and it had received a good reception from the market, tightening spreads compared to its last issue in June last year.

BancApulia SpA, based in the Apulia region of southern Italy, launched its first securitisation on Monday - a Eu204.025m deal backed by a pool of its performing and non-performing mortgages loans (NPLs). Lead managed by BNP Paribas, the deal is BancApulia's first securitisation. Like other Itakian banks BancApulia wants to clear many of its NPLs off its balance sheet before the favourable accounting and tax regime, introduced by the Italian government for this purpose when it set the legal framework for securitisation laws in the country in 1999, ends at the end of this month.

Banca di Roma this week got away its third securitisation of Italian non-performing loans (NPLs), selling Eu750m of bonds through Trevi Finance No 3 SpA. The deal, lead managed by ABN Amro (books) and Mediocredito Centrale and co-led by BNP Paribas, securitises a pool of NPLs originated by Banca di Roma and its subsidiaries Mediocredito Centrale and Leasing Roma.

EBS, Ireland's largest building society, this week launched its second securitisation of its mortgages with a Eu525m deal via Credit Suisse First Boston. It is the second Irish deal to come this month, following IIB Homeloans' Eu650m transaction two weeks ago. Irish MBS are attracting a good reception from investors with spreads on both deals setting benchmarks for this sector.

Three of the most significant asset backed deals of 2001 may emerge next week, as the market gears up for the traditional busy month of June. Morgan Stanley, San Paolo IMI and UBS Warburg expect to price the Italian government's second securitisation of delinquent social security contributions to its agency INPS on Tuesday, after about two weeks of marketing.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (MPS), one of Italy's 10 largest banks, this week launched its third securitisation - a Eu194m deal backed by a pool of non-performing mortgage loans. The deal is one of three Italian securitisations backed by non-performing loans (NPLs) to be launched this week. This surge is due to the imminent end of the favourable tax and accounting regime, which was introduced two years ago to drive the securitisation of non-performing loans and finishes at the end of May.

Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE), the Italian export credit guarantee agency, hopes to launch today (Friday) its $525m securitisation of Paris Club debt - rescheduled obligations of emerging market sovereigns. Aegis Srl will be lead managed by JP Morgan and UBS Warburg, and will comprise a single Eu525m tranche rated triple-A by all three agencies.

A rumored buyout by the British company Bass Hotels & Resorts was said to push trades of Wyndham International's term loan "B" up around 98 7/8 to 99 1/2, while the revolver traded at 99 1/4 -7/8. One dealer reported about $20 million had changed hands. Early this week they reported a $10 million trade of VoiceStream's paper at 99 3/4, which is down slightly for the name. In distressed news, an auction last week resulted in the sale of a $17 million chunk of Owens Corning's bank debt around 60 and a $13.5 million piece of Harnischfeger Industries' bank debt at just under 54, up three points for the credit. Owens is also said to be inching up, having traded in the 58 context the week prior. Mariner Post Acute Health Network traded at 56 today, which is said to be level to recent trades.

Axia Energy, the energy trading company formed by subsidiaries of Koch Industries and Entergy, has filed suit against Hess Energy Trading Co. (HETCO) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in Houston. In the civil action, filed May 8, Axia charges that HETCO conspired with two former Koch employees--who were later hired by HETCO--to obtain proprietary weather derivatives information from Axia. Stephen Semlitz, managing director of HETCO in New York, said the charges are without validity. "We are not using anything that's proprietary to Axia, nor are any of our employees." Officials at Axia declined all comment.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Tokyo has hiredHideto Takata, interest-rate derivatives trader at Bank of America in Tokyo, in a new position trading short-term interest-rate derivatives. Torsten Schlotzhauer, head of interest-rate derivatives trading at DKW and to whom Takata reports, said the new hire has a good background in interest-rate trading, and should make a positive contribution as a market maker on the short-end. Schlotzhauer added that he plans to expand the desk, declining all further comment on this point. Takata could not be reached by press time.

Marsh Securities, a unit of insurance, risk management and consulting company Marsh & McLennan Companies, has hired Paul Scalfani, managing director, structured credit products at CDC Investment Management in New York. Scalfani joins in the new position of managing director, head of the structured solutions group in New York. Jamshid Ehsani, president and ceo of Marsh Securities, said Scalfani will be responsible for structuring and placing transactions. He added that Scalfani's clients will include corporates and financial institutions. Marsh Securities often uses listed and over-the-counter credit derivatives to structure transactions, such as CDOs, CLOs and CBOs, for clients.