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Fingrid has added Unibank (Nordea) as a dealer to its $750 million debt issuance programme. It has $355.85 million outstanding off 14 trades.

Polish issuer BRE International Finance signed a euro1.5 billion ($1.29 billion) multi-currency programme for the issuance of debt instruments yesterday, May 31. Morgan Stanley is the arranger. BRE Bank, which is 50% owned by Commerzbank, is the guarantor. It is the first Polish bank to set up a Euro-MTN programme and only the second Polish issuer to come to the market. Agnieszka Czuba is head of capital markets at BRE Bank and she says: "In a way we are a pioneer, in that we are the first Polish bank to set up a Euro-MTN programme. One of the advantages is that we will be more able to respond to reverse enquiry and this could lower our funding costs." She adds: "The programme will give us more flexibility than we have with traditional eurobonds, where we are restricted and can't react as quickly to reverse enquiry." Moody's has assigned a Baa1 senior debt rating and a Baa2 subordinated debt rating to BRE International Finance's notes. Poland is rated Baa1 with a stable outlook. The issuer is happy with this rating and Anton Burghardt, who is deputy president of the board at BRE Bank, feels optimistic that Poland's rating may be raised in future. He says: "Given the strength of the Polish economy, I wouldn't exclude the possibility of Poland's rating being upgraded, in the same way that Hungary's was." The issuer is not a newcomer to the Euromarket. Burghardt says: "We've already had some experience in the bond market and it went smoothly. Funding off the programme will partly finance growth in our loan book and will partly refinance our existing debt. The local currency interest rate means there is still strong arbitrage opportunities for borrowers." The other Polish borrower in the market is TPSA Eurofinance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telekomunikacja Polska. It set up its $2 billion Euro-MTN programme in 1999 via Deutsche Bank. It has over $1.5 billion outstanding off five trades. BRE International Finance's dealers are Commerzbank, Credit Suisse First Boston, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, UBS Warburg and the arranger.

Freddie Mac yesterday (Thursday) signalled its commitment to the euro market by announcing the first ever global multi-currency issuance calendar, including its EuReference Notes alongside its dollar Reference Notes. The agency has specified the weeks in which it will issue roughly Eu25bn-Eu30bn by the end of next year, including re-openings totalling Eu5bn this month and a new 10 year in September.