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Croatia The $35m three year credit for HBOR has been launched. Standard Bank and PBZ (Privedna Banka Zagreb) are joint arrangers. So far, 12 banks have committed. The loan pays a margin of 125bp over Libor. Tickets on offer are: co-arrangers with $5m or more for 65bp, lead arrangers $3m-$5m for 55bp, managers $2m-$3m for 50bp and participants $1m-$2m for 45bp.

EBS Building Society (EBS) has issued the 12th note off its euro1.5 billion ($1.39 billion) Euro-MTN programme, which it signed in June 1999. Credit Agricole Indosuez (CAI) was bookrunner off the euro100 million trade and also did the swap for the issuer. It meant that although the investor bought Eonia-linked paper EBS was issuing a floating rate note. The coupon, with a price discount, pays 3m Euribor+21 bps, according to MTNWare. It matures in February 2003. Mark Whelan, treasury manager at EBS, says: "We tend to use the MTN programme opportunistically and this trade suited us in terms of maturity for our wholesale funding needs. As CAI did the swap there was less work for us, and it opens the door to the continental money market funds who like Eonia-linked paper." EBS's issuance last year was infrequent, because a mortgage backed security called Emerald One gave them most of their required funds. This year will be busier. Whelan says: "Our issuance volume in 2001 will be a function of the performance of our lending programme and our retail funding. But certainly it will be busier than last year."

Same-day settlement - the three little words every Euro-CP dealer wants to hear. But as the market surges into 2001 it has yet to become a reality. Automated settlement is the one thing that could rapidly increase efficiency and open the market up to new investors. But just how far away is it? Most dealers express frustration at the deadlock situation, but are positive that there will be results before the year is out. Scott Hindmarch, head of product management, Euro-CP at Lehman Brothers, says: "Progress is starting to look positive. But it doesn't look like happening overnight. IssueLink has definitely brought improvements. We all want same-day settlement - it's just a question of how soon and which clearer recognizes the growth potential inherent in the market." Louise Mason, head of Euro-CP origination at Credit Suisse First Boston, is hopeful that a decision will be made in the middle of the year. She says: "We are getting there. We did make progress in 2000, but we hope that this year we'll get the final result we're after. I don't think it will happen in the first half of the year, but I'm optimistic it will happen before the end of 2001." At the moment the settlement process takes an average of two to three days since trades have to be physically registered and assigned an ISIN code by the clearing house. Automated settlement would make the process quicker by providing instant codes for each transaction. Capital Net, publishers of MTNWeek, with its web-based IssueLink should bring same-day settlement closer. It speeds up the transmission of ISIN codes. Dealers agree it will make a significant difference. But even when it's rolled out to clients there is another step before automatic settlement is possible. John Ford, head of Euro-CP at Deutsche Bank, says: "IssueLink has helped in speeding up the transmission of codes, but code creation remains a problem. I gather that Euroclear is working on a good solution that should be introduced mid-year." Ford is also chairman of the Euro-CP Association and has campaigned for many years for same-day settlement. This has involved lobbying the clearing houses, Clearstream and Euroclear, and getting support from issuers and investors. Convincing the clearing houses just what a difference same-day settlement would make is important in the campaign. And Ford at Deutsche Bank has no doubt that it would open up the market significantly. He says: "The lack of same-day settlement is hindering the market. When interest rate views become bearish we lose outstandings to the deposit and tri-party repo market. There are also classes of investors such as securities lenders and money funds that work on an overnight and same-day settlement basis." Dealers agree that you only have to look at the overnight market in Europe to see the number of investors Euro-CP issuers are missing out on. And it's not just more European investors who would come to the market if same-day settlement was possible. Sally Vernon-Evans, director and product manager, Euro-CP sales, at Barclays Capital (Barclays) says: "Many investors go to US CP because there is same-day settlement there - you can buy up until 5pm on the day and have your trade go through. If this were possible in Euro-CP then I think yes, the market could seriously open up to new investors - particularly US investors who previously have only bought US CP for that reason." But it's not just the clearing houses that are stalling. Colin Withers, head of Euro-CP at Citibank, suggests that some issuers could be wary of the rising costs of such a service. "Same-day settlement is a strange subject. If issuers want it to happen they have to put pressure on the clearing houses. But they know that if the service is available then the clearing houses will put their fees up so then issuers have to pay more for the service. I think that's why some issuers haven't been keen to rush the process through," he says. A further hindrance to progress is general market apathy. Vernon-Evans at Barclays says: "I'd like to think we could have same-day settlement this year - but someone would have to put their hands up and take responsibility for really getting it organized. I'm not sure many investors or issuers are totally committed to seeing automated settlement in Euro-CP yet." Withers, at Citibank, echoes this sentiment. He adds: "In the age of e-commerce we all know it's perfectly possible. Everyone is saying yes, let's sort it out, but there is a general inertia about the market. If investors and issuers were telling me they wanted it then I would be shouting at the paying agencies to get something done." The responsibility for same-day settlement will lie with the paying agencies and clearing houses. And, when it does finally become a reality the pressure will be on to make sure they can react quickly and avoid errors. Wayne Bartlett is an executive director at Goldman Sachs. He is the chairman of the ECP operations working group and has been closely involved with IssueLink. He says: "Market participants are working hard to eliminate the operational barriers which hinder same-day settlement. With initiatives such as European PIMS and IssueLink currently underway it should be possible to make real progress during 2001."

The UK leveraged retail sector was given a much needed boost last night (Thursday) when Schroder Ventures announced that the arranging underwriting stage of the senior debt backing its buy-out of Homebase had been heavily oversubscribed. UBS Warburg, lead arranger of the debt, closed off the arranger phase after the five banks approached in early January had all signed up. Fuji Bank, HSBC, HypoVereinsbank, RBS and WestLB were asked to underwrite a testing £125m each for a gross fee of 175bp a month ago. At the time, market observers questioned the size of tickets, suggesting UBS Warburg would have its work cut out to sell such large amounts for a deal in the traditionally difficult UK retail sector.

* Bank of Scotland Treasury Services plc Guarantor: Bank of Scotland

The Deutsche Börse completed a textbook Eu900m IPO this week. The shares were priced at the top of the range and then rose 8% in the first two days of trading, after the deal was 23 times oversubscribed. Lead managers Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs priced the 3.2m new shares at the top of the Eu285-Eu335 range. The stock then opened trading at Eu362 on Monday, and reached Eu391 on Tuesday. Although the shares have come down since then, they closed yesterday (Thursday) at Eu384.

General Motors Acceptance Corp of Canada (GMAC) has done its second trade of the year: an eight-year Dkr500 million ($65.79 million) note that pays a final coupon of 6%. The trade will be issued on February 27 2001 and the lead dealer is Deutsche Bank. It is the fifth Danish krone note that GMAC has issued in the last 12 months. The last note was a five-year Dkr400 million issue that paid a final coupon of 6.125%. The lead dealer off the trade was KBC Bank.

The UK leveraged retail sector was given a much needed boost last night (Thursday) when Schroder Ventures announced that the arranging underwriting stage of the senior debt backing its buy-out of Homebase had been heavily oversubscribed. UBS Warburg, lead arranger of the debt, closed off the arranger phase after the five banks approached in early January had all signed up. Fuji Bank, HSBC, HypoVereinsbank, RBS and WestLB were asked to underwrite a testing £125m each for a gross fee of 175bp a month ago. At the time, market observers questioned the size of tickets, suggesting UBS Warburg would have its work cut out to sell such large amounts for a deal in the traditionally difficult UK retail sector.

Hutchison Whampoa was roadshowing a $1.5bn 10 and 30 year global bond issue this week, in what will be one of the largest deals from Asia since Hutchison's own blockbuster $2bn offering in July 1997. The transaction is lead managed by Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch - who led the previous deal which had 10, 20, 30 and 40 year tranches - and newcomer JP Morgan.

InfoVista, a global leader in service level management, has cancelled the Eu20m capital increase part of its Eu110m secondary offering, after its stock lost 5.45% ahead of the pricing on Wednesday. Lehman Brothers, BNP Paribas and BE Unterburg Towbin led the deal.

The top Euro-MTN houses gathered yesterday for the first time in any formal way for nearly two years. The International Primary Market Association (IPMA) MTN committee met with Tiina Lee, head of Euro-MTNs at Deutsche bank, in the chair. "The MTN committee has not met for two years and it was overdue for revisions," says Lee. "A lot of people have moved on since it last met and IPMA thought it was about time it was revamped." The committee discussed the EU withholding tax and its effect on the MTN market. The EU has said that any bonds issued after March 1 2001 will be liable to withholding tax. The MTN body considered whether it is necessary to extend that date for MTN trades so that the market can sort out the necessary documentation. Lee points out, however, that as the EU directive only applies to individual retail investors the impact should not be too great. A dealer who was at the meeting says the one problem that has yet to be resolved is whether fungible notes issued after March 1 would be exempt from grandfathering. The other topic on the MTN committee's agenda was the possibility of creating a centralized database of MTN documents. This would help dealers trading for issuers on a reverse enquiry basis and who do not have access to programme documents. The last time the body gathered to implement changes to market procedure was in November 1998, when Matt Carter, who headed Credit Suisse First Boston's MTN desk at the time, was the chairman. At that meeting a standardized pricing supplement was agreed on. Lee says that there is no need for the committee to meet on a regular basis. She feels it should only meet if there is something specific to discuss. The members of the committee are BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Salomon Smith Barney and UBS Warburg.