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COLOMBIA is considering a multilateral bond backing structure in order to win investment grade pricing. It is understood that Juan Mario Laserna, director of public credit, is talking with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank about guaranteeing as much as $1.2bn of bonds scheduled for issuance in 2001.

VIMPLECOM had a change of heart in the final days of its combined equity and equity linked fundraising this week, cutting the convertible to just $68m while selling $147.43m in American Depository Receipts (ADRs), to raise a total of just over $215m. UBS Warburg was sole bookrunner on both deals, which were priced on Monday after a delay caused by the SEC, which was unable to process the final prospectus as fast as had been expected.

The global dollar market showed few signs of slowing down ahead of the summer break this week as over $13bn of corporate paper hit the market, demonstrating that investors remain as committed to the sector as in recent record breaking weeks. Ford Motor Credit Company and its parent Ford Motor Co combined to launch the largest deal of the week, a $7.5bn three tranche deal that was increased from $5bn as demand flooded in across the curve.

France The Eu1bn five year revolver for Accor, the French supermarket chain, has been signed, after arrangers BNP Paribas, Citi/SSSB and SG raised an oversubscription of around 25%.

Zurich Finance has doubled the ceiling off its Euro-MTN programme to $4 billion. ABN Amro, Barclays Capital and BNP Paribas have been added as dealers.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter will today (Friday) price its fifth and largest securitisation of Italian non-performing loans, selling Eu705m of bonds backed by the Eu1.442bn portfolio of NPLs it bought from San Paolo IMI in March. International Credit Recovery (ICR5) Srl was launched this week, offering five tranches of bonds rated by all three agencies. The deal is the largest ever securitisation of NPLs apart from Banca di Roma's Trevi 2 transaction, and is the first to include a cross-currency tranche.

Dutch mortgage lender Bouwfonds Hypotheken launched its first independent securitisation this week with a Eu200m deal sole managed by ABN Amro. Bouwfonds Hypotheken is the mortgage arm of Bouwfonds Nederlandse Gemeenten, a company set up by Dutch municipalities to promote post-war housing reconstruction and home ownership, and acquired by ABN Amro in December.

IFCO Inc, the domestic finance arm of Japanese motor manufacturer Isuzu, returned to the Euromarket this week for its second securitisation, issuing $182m of bonds through sole manager DKB International. Forest Funding Corp II issued a single tranche of bonds backed by over 14,000 loans to buyers of sports utility vehicles and small commercial vehicles.

The Korea Asset Management Corp, the government agency charged with clearing up South Korea's bad loans, launched its first international securitisation this week to a rapturous reception from investors. The structure of the $367m deal, lead managed by Deutsche Bank and UBS Warburg, meant that most of the risk is covered by state owned Korea Development Bank. The transaction was therefore seen as a close proxy for direct exposure to KDB, one of Asia's bellwether credits, with a spread pickup.

Commerzbank launched its first public securitisation this week - the largest ever German MBS. The deal parcels Eu2.5bn of first lien (68%) and second lien mortgages - 41,500 loans in total, using a synthetic structure without an SPV. Eu1.5bn of the transaction was placed as a super-senior credit default swap with an OECD bank, with the rest sold as Eu1bn of FRNs rated triple-A, single-A and triple-B by Fitch and Standard & Poor's. The Eu40m first loss piece was privately placed under Commerzbank's own AA- ratings, thanks to its protection by a sub-participation of interest on the reference portfolio. (See bonds section for full structure.)

Initial margin is now more important than ever to participants in the over-the-counter derivatives markets because it touches many areas of the transactional process including marketing, credit, legal, operations and funding.

CHINA Merchants Holdings is tapping the markets for a dual tranche transaction with $150m. The issue consists of an FRN and transferable loan certificate issue. The deal is for five years with a three year call/put option, and is priced at par, with a coupon of 160bp over six month Libor.