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UniCredito Italia has signed a euro5 billion ($4.46 billion) Euro-MTN programme. UBS Warburg and UniCredit Banca Mobiliare are the arrangers. The dealers off the facility are the arrangers, ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Chase Manhattan, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and SG.

*EL.en, an Italian medical and industrial laser maker, has priced its Eu35.2m IPO towards the bottom of the range following investors' concerns over market volatility. The price was set at Eu26 from a range of Eu24.5 and Eu31.5. The stock will start trading on the Nuovo Mercato on December 11.

BoE Bank of South Africa has become the country's first private bank to issue a senior debt bond, with a R1bn three year issue launched this week on the domestic market through Merrill Lynch. The bond offers a 12.75% coupon on a 99.842 issue/reoffer price, giving a 105bp pick-up over three year government swaps. It was also the first ever offering on the domestic market from a single-A rated issuer - BoE is rated A1/A+/A+.

Kelda Group announced six month interim results on Tuesday that were in line with analyst expectations. Pretax profits fell to £81m from £122.2m last year, due to 14.5% price cuts imposed on the company by industry regulator Ofwat. Announcing the results, Kelda's chairman urged Ofwat for a "long term strategic view of the industry", following the restructuring plans put forward to the regulator by Glas Cymru, prospective owner of Welsh Water, in early November. As a company limited by guarantee, Glas Cymru is regarded as having a better chance of winning regulatory clearance than Kelda did when it made similar proposals earlier in the year.

In mid-March 1999, City of Rome (Rome) will become the first Italian city to sign a Euro-MTN programme, following the trend among municipalities for entering the market. JP Morgan has won the arrangership mandate for the euro500 billion ($566.25 billion) Euro-MTN programme. The dealer group will be announced after the city council gives its approval in the next two weeks. It is expected that 70% of the appointed dealers will be international houses and 30% Italian banks. An inaugural issue of euro150 million with a long maturity is planned to kick off the facility, after which time the borrower expects to be in the market regularly. Funds will be used to finance infrastructure and cultural projects, including a modern art museum. Rome joins other quasi-governmental bodies within Euroland which are turning to the international capital markets for funds. Region of Lazio signed its $1 billion Euro-MTN programme in November 1997, and Province of Naples will set up a facility in March. Other cities are expected to follow Rome's example. Borrowers like City of Bologna, would then be able to diversify their investor bases beyond those captured by domestic programmes. Silvia Candini, an associate in fixed income origination at JP Morgan, says: "I think it's a trend in the market. Euro-MTN programmes are appreciated by other local authorities and seen as very valuable and flexible funding tools." Candini is confident that the programme will receive a strong rating because Rome itself holds a good double A- rating from Standard & Poor's and Fitch IBCA.

Kingfisher, the UK-based retailer, has returned to the MTN market. It signed a euro2.5 billion ($2.64 billion) Euro-MTN programme. Although the issuer is keeping a tight lid on programme details, it listed the facility in London and Paris on Tuesday, May 25 1999. Deutsche Bank has won the arrangership mandate. The issuer is one of Europe's most profitable retailers with companies such as B&Q, Woolworths and Superdrug in its group. It also has stakes in Norweb Retail and the French electricals retailer, BUT. No doubt the issuer's funding needs will increase following its merger with ASDA supermarkets, announced this week. Standard & Poor's and Fitch IBCA have both rated the programme single-A. Joining the arranger in the dealer group are ABN Amro, Banque Nationale de Paris, Barclays Capital, HSBC and Warburg Dillon Read.

Kingfisher has been busy in the markets this week. It kicked off on Monday with a two-year euro50 million ($43.96 million). The note, which pays a single coupon, will be issued on 18 December 2000. This was followed by yesterday's £

Kommuninvest has done its 15th 20-year issue with a ¥500 million ($4.5 million) note. The note will be issued on 21 December and pays a final coupon of 5%. The issuer has been a frequent user off its MTN programme with 37 trades outstanding this year. The facility has $3.54 billion outstanding and Tomas Werngren, executive vice president at Kommuninvest told MTNWeek in November that it is in the process of signing a new $4 billion MTN facility. Werngren said: "We are looking to set up a new MTN programme but the market has changed since we set up our last programme and there is the possibility we will appoint a new arranger. We will start the process for a new $4 billion programme in December but will not sign anything until April or May."

Kommunalbanken has issued in yen for the second time this month: a ¥600 million ($5.34 million) three-year note to be issued on 10 January 2001. The note pays a single coupon of 3.5%. The issuer has used its euro2 billion ($1.75 million) MTN programme 20 times this year and has $1.96 billion outstanding. It is the second highest issuer of governmental private debt in 2000 behind the Kingdom of Denmark. Kristine Falkgard, head of foreign funding at Kommunalbanken spoke to MTNWeek last month about the possibility of extending its programme, she said: " We did not expect such strong growth and now we are looking to extend our programme to euro4 billion. Next year we estimate that we will issue euro1.6 to euro1.8 billion."

Korea’s total bond issuance this year, while comparable to levels in 1999, has proved disappointing for many bankers. The government has dealt with many concerns about corporate and financial transparency and most agree that market governance is now at commendable levels. On the back of these efforts, and admirable GDP growth, a revitalisation in the issuance pipeline was anticipated. Instead, the market has watched spreads on Korean debt expand alarmingly on the back of international volatility and domestic concerns about corporate and financial restructuring, forcing potential issuers either out of the market or to search for alternative financing. Richard Morrow reports.

One the newest and most impressive areas of development since its inception in late 1998 has been the Korean asset backed securities (ABS) market. Spearheaded by Korea Asset Management Corp (Kamco), the state owned debt restructuring agency, the ABS market has grown rapidly this year, having only been fully initiated with the passing of the ABS Law in September 1998, which formalised the ABS framework. The repackaging of non-performing loans (NPLs) has contributed to a rapid increase in domestic ABS issuance, and has included a number of international transactions.