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* After 228 years of male dominance, the London Stock Exchange announced this week that its next leader will be a woman. Clara Furse, a Dutch former managing director at UBS Warburg, will take up the role of chief executive on February 5. Furse will step into the breach vacated by Gavin Casey, who resigned after the LSE's merger with the Deutsche Börse fell through. She had been at UBS Warburg between 1983 and 1998. Since then, she has been deputy chairman of London International Financial Futures Exchange and group chief executive at Crédit Lyonnais Rouse.

Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance company, this week revealed details of its first securitisation — a $300m catastrophe bond placed privately at the end of December.

Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance company, this week revealed details of its first securitisation — a $300m catastrophe bond placed privately at the end of December.

Alcatel and Marconi will finally take their holdings in Alstom down to a reasonable level next month, with a Eu2.2bn sell-off that will consist of up to 41.25% of their 47.2% joint participation. Credit Suisse First Boston and SG are managing the deal. The announcement comes as a relief for investors. "It is about time," said a French fund manager annoyed by the late decision. "We have been waiting for the past three years." The prospect of the sale had been a drag on the stock since its 1998 listing, turning investors off the share. In addition, the company had disappointed some banks in terms of reaching its objectives. "Alstom has not seduced investors," said a banker from a leading French bank.

* Banco BPI SA (Cayman) Rating: A2

* AIG SunAmerica Institutional Funding II Rating: Aaa/AAA

Kingfisher, the UK-based retailer, has issued its first MTN of the year: a £

A stunning $8.2bn equivalent Ford deal this week combined with the recent successful transactions by DaimlerChrysler and British Telecom to help bring about a sea change in investor appetite. From a strong focus on triple-A sovereign and supranational debt, investors are moving rapidly into credit. The fact that the once beleaguered auto and telecoms sectors are performing well has given the market confidence in corporate credits once more.

Ford Motor Credit Co was deluged with more than $25bn of orders yesterday (Thursday) for its $8.2bn euro and dollar global bond as investors continued their high grade corporate bond buying frenzy. The issue, increased by $3.2bn, led a barrage of deals during the week as it became clear that a wave of cash was engulfing the corporate bond market. "There is a frenzy in the market to buy corporate bonds," said Drew Ertman, a principal at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, which led the Ford (FMCC) deal with Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.

This week the loan market absorbed the news that the fourth candidate in the French UMTS beauty contest, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, has pulled out of the auction and that Bouyges Telecom is reconsidering its place in the bidding. Many bankers see the move as final confirmation that UMTS licences fees are too high for the current market.

FSA Global Funding has added Dexia Capital Markets as a dealer off its $4 billion Euro-MTN programme. Merrill Lynch is the arranger and the programme has been used to issue 14 trades since it was set up in 1998. The amount outstanding is $991.03 million.