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Brazil is considering a eurobond issue in the next few weeks to take advantage of relatively calm markets and to beat the usual rush of new issues in January. The speculation yesterday (Thursday) was that the sovereign was looking to do a three year bond of about Eu500m, although no specific mandate has yet been awarded.

British Telecommunications plc this week confounded sceptics by achieving a record $10bn global bond sale, the largest dollar denominated and second largest corporate bond ever launched, helping boost debt market sentiment in a week when several events pointed to an improved outlook for fixed income.

British Telecommunications plc this week confounded sceptics by achieving a record $10bn global bond sale, the largest dollar denominated and second largest corporate bond ever launched, helping boost debt market sentiment in a week when several events pointed to an improved outlook for fixed income.

Market report Compiled by Jim Webber, TD Securities, London.

Canadian Wheat Board has hit the market with its fourth yen trade of the year: a ten-year ¥500 million ($4 .45 million) note to be issued on 20 December 2000.The note pays interest semi-annually and offers a final coupon of 2%. Canadian Wheat Board has only issued once outside yen this year: a $5 million ten-year note issued on 20 September 2000. All of the issuer's notes have had a maturity of 10 years and posted around the $5 million mark.

Commerzbank has confirmed its status as one of the leading players in rand sector. Yesterday, Monday December 4 2000 saw the German bank issue its longest-dated rand trade to date: a R100 million ($15.85 million) fixed-rated trade that matures on December 29 2006. The issue date is December 29 2000. Royal Bank of Canada, which has been responsible for lead managing over half the rand trades this year, was the bookrunner. The trade pays out an annual 12% coupon and was bought by the same investor who snapped up the seven other Commerzbank rand deals this year, according to Thomas Behme at the issuer's treasury. Only the European Investment bank has issued more rand this year. Commerzbank has sold 8 rand notes, raising $145 million. There have been 51 rand trades issued in total this year.

The loan market took a direct hit on Wednesday when Turkey's ninth largest bank, Demir Bank, went into state administration, only two weeks after it signed a $140m loan. But investors were reassured when the Turkish treasury announced that deposits and loans from foreign banks were to be guaranteed.

zech Republic The seven year Eu75m financing for the City of Prague is expected to close in the next two weeks. The facility has been oversubscribed and the borrower is considering an increase. The margin is 32.5bp over Libor over the first four years and 35bp in the last three.

EBS Building Society (EBS) is set to become the second Irish issuer to come to market this year. The Dublin-based mutual plans to sign a euro1 billion ($1.07 billion) Euro-MTN programme in early June 1999. Merrill Lynch has won the arrangership mandate. This means the bank now arranges six of the eight Irish programmes in the market. EBS plans to grab investor attention with an inaugural issue in July but full details of the bond have still to be decided. It will pave the way for future public and private placements. Mike Lennon, head of treasury at EBS, says: "If we go ahead with the public launch the first year's issuance will be more infrequent. We'll meet a lot of our needs from the public deal. But we'll still be in the market for smaller deals that make sense for us." Irish building societies have to meet the challenges of Emu's low interest rate environment. EBS was the first Irish building society to lower its variable mortgage rate below 5% following last month's euro rate cut. And in doing so, it managed to undercut the only other Irish building society in the MTN market, Irish Permanent. Lennon, at EBS, says: "We need to attract a wider array of investors since we're a euro country now." A dealer group with strong geographical distribution has been chosen but EBS is open to reverse enquiry. The named dealers off the shelf are Barclays Capital, Dresdner Bank, SG, Salomon Smith Barney and the arranger. Ratings are expected to be assigned to the programme shortly.

Dutch Housing Association Finance (DuHAF) will bring a pioneering programme to the private placement market when it signs its euro1 billion ($1.06 billion) Euro-MTN programme next week. DuHAF, guaranteed by the Dutch government, is a funding vehicle for social housing. It is zero risk-weighted. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Rabobank jointly arrange the facility. They are also the only named dealers. Notes off the facility will be rated triple-A by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. DuHAF is a vehicle to pool the funding needs of housing associations across the Netherlands. Twenty of the 700-plus associations are shareholders in DuHAF. The number is expected to reach 400 in two or three years' time. Valentijn Thijssen, from the treasury advisory group which acts as manager of the administration of the programme, says: "We will be a very active issuer and therefore attract the bigger housing associations. We want to capture those more advanced in their treasury activities and those with bigger funding needs." Since DuHAF caters for associations with varying funding needs, all maturities and tranche sizes will be considered. A funding target of euro500 million has been estimated with issuance planned for September. A target price of about two-and-a-half basis points below Euribor has been set. How much of the association's funding needs will be met off the facility is uncertain. Thijssen, of the treasury advisory group, says: "In the end it's just about price, as everything is. How much we do depends on whether we can beat the domestic funding rates."

Finland's second Euro-MTN signing of the year happened on December 4, through Elisa Communications. It also announced the dealer panel, which includes the arranger Chase Manhattan, ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Handelsbanken, HSBC, Leonia Bank, MeritaNordbanken, Merrill Lynch, Okobank, SEB Debt Capital Markets, UBS Warburg and WestLB. The euro1 billion ($891.3 million) programme will be used sporadically for refinancing old debt at first, but by 2003 Juha Kervinen, group treasurer at Elisa Communications, hopes to be issuing more regularly. He says: "Telecom spreads have been widening all year, and although the sector is stable at the moment we may delay our inaugural until we have real funding needs." But he did not rule out issuing a euro300 million note before the end of the year. About 95% of the company's funding is in euros, so there are no plans to issue outside of Europe. This is the first Euro-MTN programme to be arranged by Chase Manhattan since Region of Umbria signed this time in 1999. But it is the 21st dealership won by the US bank this year.

Brazil * Banco BBA Creditanstalt