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Loan volumes are running at record levels, according to figures from Capital DATA Loanware, propelled by one of the biggest mergers and acquisitions booms ever seen in Europe. The equivalent of $347.6bn in syndicated loan debt has been signed in the first three quarters of 1999 in the Euromarket — the highest level registered by Loanware in the first three-quarters of any year since the data company’s records began in 1980.

Brazil has mandated Chase Manhattan and JP Morgan to underwrite a 10 year Brady bond exchange offer of at least $1bn, the latest in a fast growing list of emerging market sovereigns seeking to rid themselves of what is now considered to be the emerging markets' most unsightly asset class. The deal, led by JP Morgan and Chase and due for pricing in the week ahead, will be the first significant test of investor demand for a large, non-guaranteed Latin sovereign transaction in months.

n Abbey National will launch its third mortgage securitisation, Holmes Funding 2, next week. Lead manager Salomon Smith Barney will publish red herrings today (Friday) for the £1bn deal. The floating rate deal will offer three triple-A tranches - Eu725m of amortising notes with a 2.9 year average life, and two five year soft bullets, worth £215m and Eu300m. Price talk is 21bp to 22bp over Euribor for the shorter piece, 27bp to 28bp over Libor for the sterling tranche and 26bp to 27bp over Euribor for the five year euro note.

US mortgage company Ocwen Financial Corp has sold its UK arm, Ocwen UK Ltd, to the subsidiary's management and a consortium of investors led by Royal Bank Development Capital for £77m. Ocwen UK is one of the largest non-conforming lenders in the UK, servicing over £700m of mortgages. The company was formed in April 1998 when Ocwen Financial acquired Cityscape Financial Corp, another US lender, which was in financial difficulties. Ocwen paid £25m to £30m for Cityscape's UK subsidiary, City Mortgage Corp.

Kensington Mortgage Co this week became the first UK non-conforming lender to securitise its assets in a foreign currency. Lead manager WestLB sold the senior tranche of Kensington's seventh mortgage securitisation entirely in euros, accessing new investors at an attractive cost of funds. "WestLB suggested a euro deal to us about a month ago, as a way to reach a different group of investors from our normal buyers in the sterling market," said Martin Finegold, chief executive of Kensington in London. "It was a nice idea and it worked. We are very satisfied with the pricing, which is similar after the swap to what a sterling deal would have cost us."

Komercní Banka of the Czech Republic announced this week that it had mandated ING Barings to advise on restructuring its Eu2.3bn non-performing loan portfolio. Securitisation is high on the list of potential solutions. The mandate is an explicit attempt to clean up the bank's balance sheet as an aid to privatisation - the government intends to sell much of the 49% stake it still holds in Komercní by the middle of next year.

The Italian treasury is expected to announce a timetable next week for the auction to appoint lead managers for its Eu4.1bn securitisation of delinquent social security contributions. In April the government appointed Banca IMI, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Warburg Dillon Read to structure the transaction, but the underwriting mandate will be offered separately.

Greenwich NatWest this week announced the launch of a Eu1.29bn securitisation of non-performing mortgages for Istituto Italiano di Credito Fondiario, the largest Italian securitisation so far. NatWest stated that Eu826m of senior and mezzanine notes and a Eu464m junior piece "were privately placed by and among a number of Italian banks." Italfondiario will use proceeds to refinance bonds issued at high coupons before the steep falls in Italian interest rates of the last few years.