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France ABN Amro, Natexis Banque-BFCE and WestLB are due to oversee the signing of the Eu1bn revolving credit for Casino Guichard-Perrachon today (Friday).

International investors will get their first opportunity to buy bonds backed by New Zealand mortgages next week, when Westpac launches a $438m deal, including $357m of Eurobonds. Securitisation has made only tentative progress in New Zealand - apart from a government related transaction structured by Fay Richwhite in the early 1990s and some trade receivables deals through conduits, the country has produced just four MBS deals.

n Inter-American Development Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

The international capital markets got what they wanted and expected this week as the Fed raised US interest rates by 25bp, but with all eyes focused on the Fed's decision for the early part of the week the pace of new issue activity was slow. Bankers hope that the new direction from the Fed - and its decision to make a swift return to a neutral stance on interest rates - will lead to a much more benign issuing environment through the summer months. But attention will still shift to today's (Friday) non-farm payroll figures for confirmation that the Fed has called it right.

The Lloyds TSB group launched a five-pronged attack on the market, with three tranches of subordinated sterling debt and two tranches of subordinated euro debt. The total size of the deal was the equivalent to about $2.8bn. The sterling legs, all in the form of step-up callable perpetuals, were swapped at the call date to floating sterling, the borrower was reported to confirm. Each leg is expected to be called, as the step-ups are pretty punitive.

Any hopes Mannesmann had of avoiding the difficulties of the fixed rate euro credit market by launching a floating rate note were dashed this week as the latest leg of its loan refinancing was cut back to the minimum size of Eu1bn. Mandated to Balaba, Commerzbank and Paribas to re-offer Euribor plus 20bp last Wednesday, the deterioration in credit markets pushed out the centre of gravity of interest by several basis points, according to the leads, and the rumoured Eu2bn size proved unattainable.

Any hopes Mannesmann had of avoiding the difficulties of the fixed rate euro credit market by launching a floating rate note were dashed this week as the latest leg of its loan refinancing was cut back to the minimum size of Eu1bn. Mandated to Balaba, Commerzbank and Paribas to re-offer Euribor plus 20bp last Wednesday, the deterioration in credit markets pushed out the centre of gravity of interest by several basis points, according to the leads, and the rumoured Eu2bn size proved unattainable.

The Central Bank of Tunisia this week awarded Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter the lead management role on a debut euro offering. The Baa3/BBB-/BBB- rated sovereign is set to launch a Eu250m seven to 10 year transaction, the first to be issued off a newly established Eu1bn Euro-MTN programme arranged by Merrill Lynch.

Egypt Syndicate banks were signed in last Wednesday (June 30) for the oversubscribed but not increased, sell-down of the $220m international tranche of the senior secured facility for the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (ECMS). The deal was led by international arrangers Chase Manhattan, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Paribas and WestLB.

ABN AMRO has made three senior appointments for its global fixed income business. Brian Lawson has been appointed global head of fixed income replacing Alberto Francioni who left last week. Lawson first joined ABN AMRO in 1995 as global head of fixed income syndication.

THE CHARGES and processing structures of Europe's 31 clearing houses - and particularly those of heavyweights Cedel and Euroclear - are to come under scrutiny by the recently formed European Security Users' Industry Group. The group comprises leading investment banks. Its main objective is to ensure that the widely expected consolidation of Europe's clearing and settlement industry is of benefit to the market.

n DePfa Rating: Aa3