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* Cregem Finance NV Guarantor: Dexia Bank (Brussels)

* Deutsche Australia Ltd Guarantor: Deutsche Bank AG (Australia)

Province of Nova Scotia will become the sixth Canadian province to sign a Euro-MTN facility when it launches its $1 billion Euro-MTN programme in the Autumn, via Salomon Smith Barney. Roy Spence, head of treasury, Province of Nova Scotia, says: "The province has done many Eurobond issues. The MTN facility is a further step along the evolutionary process for our funding. We believe it will broaden our access and recognition in the market." Salomon Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter are part of the dealer line-up but the full set of names will be confirmed shortly. The province is rated A3 by Moody's and A- by Standard & Poor's.

Nova Scotia has become the latest Canadian province to enter the market. It signed its $1.25 billion Euro-MTN programme on Wednesday, February 23. The market has been waiting for the province to sign since it mandated Salomon Smith Barney to arrange the facility in August 1999, as reported in MTNWeek, issue 142. Six of the 10 Canadian provinces are already in the market along with Canada itself and the state-guaranteed Candian Wheat Board. These eight issuers have $22.46 billion outstanding between them. Douglas Stratton is executive director, investment, pensions and treasury services at the province. He is not concerned about competition from this crowded sector. He says: "We have investors who find us an excellent province to invest in. We have an attractive spread relative to our credit." The province is rated A- by Standard & Poor's. This is the lowest rating of any of the Canadian provincial or state issuers. Nova Scotia conducted a roadshow around North America in the summer of 1999 to reassure investors about the province's political and financial stability. The province is experienced in the international capital markets as well as the domestic arena. It launched a C$250 million ($171.14 million) five-year Eurobond in December 1999. It has a $250 million US CP facility and domestic MTN shelf. It has issued $220.78 million of structured debt off this facility. Stratton, at Nova Scotia's treasury, is therefore looking forward to issuing structures off the Euro-MTN programme. He says: "We have issued notes such as a 10-year non-call three in the domestic market. We do not rule out doing anything off the Euro-MTN facility." There are no immediate plans for an inaugural deal because Nova Scotia is to introduce its budget in the next couple of months. The dealer group is made up of CIBC, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Royal Bank of Canada and the arranger. This is Salomon Smith Barney's first arrangership so far this year and its first Canadian mandate.

* Deutsche Hypothekenbank AG Rating: AAA/AAA (S&P/Fitch)

* Bank Austria AG Guarantor: City of Vienna

Principal Life Insurance Company (Principal Life) has signed a $2 billion Euro-MTN programme in the name of its Cayman Islands-based special purpose vehicle, Principal Life Global Funding. The facility is eye-catching as it underlines the growing trend with borrowers for making Guaranteed Insurance Contract-backed (GIC) issuances. In doing so Principal Life follows names like John Hancock Global Funding, Pacific Life Funding and SunAmerica Institutional Funding. Principal Life will use the GIC-backed issuances to secure the notes launched off the Euro-MTN facility. The funds raised will not be used for general corporate purposes, as is typical of many MTN issuers, but for Principal Life's spread-lending business. Credit Suisse First Boston has scooped the arrangership mandate for the programme and will also lead the borrower's inaugural benchmark transaction in early January, subject to the market environment. According to Barbara McKenzie, director, research and portfolio management at Principal Life, the trade is expected to have a longer maturity, since there is not the same opportunity to do this kind of transaction in the American domestic market. The Euro-MTN facility is Principal Life's foray in the Eurobond market, and its funding strategy is to produce a mix of trades. McKenzie says: "We recognise that we'll have to do core issuance-type funding so that investors will get to understand our story, but we'd also like to do some reverse enquiry business similar to our domestic issuance." Notes issued off the programme will be subject to New York law and listed in Luxembourg, while contracts will be governed by Iowa law. The dealer group comprises CDC Marches, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Salomon Smith Barney and the arranger. Citibank is the principal paying agent. The programme is rated Aa2 by Moody's, double-A by Standard & Poor's and triple-A by Duff and Phelps.

Preussag this week acquired a 34.4% minority stake in the leading French tourism group Nouvelles Frontières, with the possibility of increasing the stake after 2002. The purchase price was undisclosed, but market sources estimate the value to be between Eu650m and Eu900m.

BNP Paribas has been dropped as a dealer from Province of Saskatchewan's $1 billion Euro-MTN programme. The programme, signed in 1995, has yet to issue its debut trade.