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* Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

BMW has been making use of both sides of the Atlantic, with a euro15 million ($14.09 million) deal that goes out to July 2003, and a $100 million issue that matures in January 2003. The bookrunner off the euro trade was UBS Warburg, and the fixed-rate note pays interest quarterly. The US dollar-denominated deal is a floating-rate note. Fredrik Altmann, capital markets at BMW, says: "Spread widening will continue, but at this stage of the year we are still very aggressive with our levels. Our strategy won't change at all, so like the last six years we will wait to see what our dealers will bring us."

* Akademiska Hus Rating: AA

The telecoms revival in the high yield market continued this week as Swedish operator Tele 1 Europe issued a Eu175m 12.375% 2008 deal, increased from Eu150m by leads Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. The issue marked Lehman Brothers' return to the market for the first time since lead managing CP Kelco's deal last September, which the bank bought back at 92% following a plunge in the paper's value and protests from investors.

Telmex issued Latin America's biggest ever plain vanilla corporate bond this week with its debut $1bn five year transaction. The 144a deal, led by JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, attracted more than $1.5bn of orders after being priced attractively at 350bp over Treasuries, 15bp wider than the UMS 2006 global bond.

France Télécom announced this week a Eu55bn-Eu65bn valuation for its mobile unit, Orange, sparking a debate as to whether the figure represented a discount or a premium to competitor Vodafone. Investors have shown widespread appreciation of Orange's business model, but also voiced concern that the telecoms sector has further to fall. "People love the company," said a banker on the syndicate. "It is just a question of the sector as a whole. The price was received positively," he added. But some investors see Orange's offer as representing a premium to the company's most prominent comparable Vodafone. "How can they justify paying a premium to market leader Vodafone?" asked another banker in the syndicate. A third explained that on the most common valuation, the price range offered a discount.

Gazprom astounded the international capital markets this week by mandating Credit Suisse First Boston and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney for a Eurobond, touted for launch in early March. This would make the world’s biggest gas producer the first Russian Eurobond issuer since the 1998 crisis, preceding the sovereign. It would also be Gazprom’s inaugural approach to the international bond markets.

General Motors Acceptance Corp (GMAC) did a Sfr750 million ($ 456.15 million) public trade yesterday having avoided the currency for almost 16 months. Credit Suisse First Boston managed the four-year deal, the first time the bank has done a trade for GMAC since April 1998. The note pays a final coupon of 4%. And General Electric Capital Corp has issued its sixth Czech koruna note in three months. The one-year kr1 billion ($26.66 million) note pays a final coupon of 5.5%.

The entire US financial market watched with bated breath as Fed chairman Alan Greenspan briefed Congress yesterday (Thursday). At first the markets sold off sharply as Greenspan appeared to embrace the idea of tax cuts, a policy for which he has demonstrated only lukewarm enthusiasm in the past.

ndia The $100m five year term loan for Industrial Development Bank of India was signed on January 19.

Kerr McGee has set up a Euro-CP programme to replace its now cancelled $150 million facility. The replacement programme has a debt ceiling of $400 million and Citibank is the arranger. Citibank, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank are the dealers. The issuer, rated A-2/P-2, makes industrial chemicals and produces oil and gas.