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GMAC stormed the euro market this week with a Eu4bn five year transaction, amassing an impressive Eu10.25bn order book with neither a punitive new issue premium nor the benefit of a long premarketing process. The volume of orders took the issuer and lead managers Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank by surprise. GMAC's initial plans were for a Eu1bn-Eu2bn issue.

Two car manufacturers have been involved in the three-year sector. GMAC did a ¥1.5 billion ($12.78 million) note that pays interest of 1%. And Toyota Motor Finance did a $50 million trade that pays its coupons semi-annually. The trades take the total issuance for the year so far in the automotive industry to almost $10 billion. Deutsche Bank leads the bookrunner table for automotive issuance, according to MTNWare.

The US Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates for the second time in a month gave a lift to debt markets this week, fuelling investor appetite and creating a sharp contraction in corporate spreads. Following a 50bp cut on January 3, the Fed's decision on Wednesday to shave off a further 50bp allayed fears of a US economic slowdown and fired optimism in the corporate market on both sides of the Atlantic.

Iberdrola continues its funding spree. The Spanish utility, after remaining silent for the entire second half of 2000, has sold its fourth trade of the year. Like its two most recent trades, its latest foray is a euro-denominated two-year deal. The euro40 million ($37.4 million) note pays an annual coupon of 4.835% and matures February 6 2003.

InfoVista, a global leader in business service level management, is this week testing investors' appetite for technology stocks with a Eu110m secondary offering. Lehman Brothers, BNP Paribas and BE Unterburg Towbin are leading the deal with Fidelity Capital Marketing acting as co-manager in the US.

ABN Amro has paid a mere $275m for the North American wholesale clients business of ING Barings and the Furman Selz brokerage operation, with an additional $80m-$100m retention fund for key employees. The purchase price equates to asset value plus $12m goodwill. The wholesale business includes corporate finance, equities, trading and research, as well as the prime brokerage business, which was formerly part of Furman Selz and is regarded as the jewel in the crown. ABN Amro expects to be able, with further investment, to roll the prime brokerage franchise out further into the US and Asia.

Interbanca has sold its first trade of 2001: a three-year euro7 million ($6.85 million) note, which matures on March 8 2004. This is the 12th trade that the unrated Italian bank has launched since it signed its euro1.5 billion Euro-MTN programme in April 1999. All but two of the trades have been euro-denominated and most have been managed by ABN Amro, Banca di Roma or Caboto. In October Francesca del Nero, head of marketing at Interbanca, told MTNWeek: "We would probably have more opportunities if we were rated, but most of our investors know us well. I would say a rating is a minor advantage, but we have had no difficulty in selling our paper."

The Deutsche Börse Eu900m IPO is thought to have been more than 15 times oversubscribed by the end of yesterday (Thursday), with another day of bookbuilding to go. Retail demand in particular has been surprisingly strong for the issue, which is being managed by Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. The company is offering 2.9m shares at Eu285-Eu335, and the high price per share was expected to put off retail investors. Although the Börse is due to undergo a stock split, which would bring the price down to more common levels, private investors are often reluctant to pay three figure sums for each share. For this offering, however, retail investors are keen to subscribe. "Retail is coming in. Institutions are coming in. It is very interesting," said one banker on the syndicate.

Kommuninvest has decided against yen for the first time this year with a euro100million ($92.20 million) seven-year note that pays a final coupon of 5%. The note will be issued on February 22 2001. All of the issuer's previous 5 trades have been long-dated yen notes and it this type of note that often has the power reverse dual structure attached. Maria Vilmne, senior funding officer at Kommuninvest, says: "We have seen a steady flow of this type of structure throughout the autumn and winter. Of all the structured enquiry we see coming out of Japan, about 75% of this is made up of power reverse dual currency notes."

Koninklijke KPN has increased the size of its $5 billion global MTN programme to $10 billion, two weeks after the issuer had its long-term corporate credit rating downgraded to BBB+ by Standard & Poor's. KPN has also shed both BNP Paribas and UBS Warburg from its dealer panel. The dealers have been replaced by Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and Tokyo-Mitsubishi International (TMI). KPN has used its programme only six times since it was signed in August 1998. It has issued only in yen for its last three trades. Newly appointed TMI was the bookrunner off two of these notes and will become the only Japanese dealer on the programme. KPN's other three notes were all denominated in euro.

Argentina Bank of America and HSBC Securities Inc are in the market with a $100m one year USCP back-up facility for HSBC Bank Argentina SA.