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Gulf International Bank (UK) Ltd last Friday launched the first two tranches of a collateralised bond obligation backed by US and European high yield bonds. Saudi International Bank, which merged with Gulf International Bank last year, launched four CBOs between 1991 and 1995, but has been out of the market since then. Key staff left in 1997 and since the beginning of last year the bank has been preoccupied with the merger.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter this week launched a £300m securitisation for igroup limited, the UK non-conforming mortgage lender formerly called Ocwen UK Ltd. The company was renamed in March, following its management buy-out from Ocwen Financial Corp last October. The pool comprises 6,368 loans, of which 75.8% are first lien mortgages. Some 23.3% of the pool, according to Fitch, comprises loans to borrowers who have had at least one County Court judgment, with 7.6% to borrowers with more than one CCJ. High value properties make up 18.9% of the pool. The average loan to value ratio is 66.9%.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter this week launched its second securitisation of Japanese non-performing loans to overwhelming Japanese and international demand. The ¥31bn deal, International Credit Recovery - Japan Two Ltd, is backed by 257 mortgages on 441 properties, including some real estate owned outright by the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund.

Credit Suisse First Boston introduced two structural advances to the Portuguese securitisation market last Friday when it launched a Eu200m deal for three consumer finance subsidiaries of Banco Português de Negócios. Chaves Funding No 1 Ltd is the first Portuguese deal to include a triple-B class, and the first to use an unrated bank as holder of the deposit that allows interest to be paid on the bonds without withholding tax.

Online business-to-business exchanges have surfaced in the commodity, currency, equity and fixed-income over-the-counter derivatives markets.

DEUTSCHE Bank and Salomon Smith Barney have secured the prestigious mandate to float Uecomm, the telecommunications subsidiary of United Energy. Premarketing is underway and Uecomm will list on the Australian stock exchange on September 11. The issue is designed to capture positive investor sentiment in Australia and to slip into the market ahead of the razzmatazz of the Olympic Games, which starts on September 15.

INTERNATIONAL Business Machines (IBM) followed up its two yen denominated bond issues this year with a five year Samurai transaction this week, making it the second largest international issuer of yen denominated debt this year. The corporate issue is further confirmation of the increased interest by international companies in the Samurai bond market.

NEC Corporation has launched a jumbo convertible bond in the Japanese domestic market, raising ¥100bn of zero coupon funds with an issue that enjoyed tremendous demand from domestic and international investors. Daiwa SB Capital Markets was lead manager for the transaction and sold 30% of the paper into the Euromarket. The deal was more than 10 times covered, according to Koki Yakato, deputy general manager at Daiwa SBCM in Tokyo.

Australia Bendigo Bank is looking to access the international debt markets in the coming month, according to a market observer familiar with the institution.

THE AUSTRALIAN domestic debt market still showed strong issuance this week, with total primary issuance amounting to A$725m, through a number of transactions. The Northern Territory government launched its debut A$150m, five year bond issue via its financing arm Northern Territory Treasury Corp. The bond issue, which offers a coupon of 6.5%, was priced to yield 6.705% or 48bp over the July 2005 government bond. Moody's rates the Northern Territory Treasury Corp Aa2.

THE NRMA float is set to be priced at the top end of the A$2.25-A$2.75 price range when the company announces the result of the offer on Sunday. The shares are due to begin trading on Tuesday and are expected to make a solid debut given the recent strength of the Australian stock market and the impact of NRMA on the main indices. At A$2.75 per share, NRMA will have a market capitalisation of more than A$4bn and will be the 28th largest company on the Australian stock exchange by valuation.

THE PORT of Singapore Authority (PSA) followed up on its triumphant debut in the global dollar bond markets last week with an inaugural issue into the domestic debt market. The Singapore corporate launched a S$600m, 10 year bond issue last Friday, which carries a 4.91% coupon, paying semi-annually. The much anticipated local bond issue was priced at par, at a spread of 41bp over the benchmark.