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Bank of Scotland made its first foray into the euro market this week with a Eu1bn five year floater that marked a further milestone in the development of a euro FRN market on a par with its dollar counterpart. Priced at a discount margin of 14bp over Euribor, the paper offered investors a liquid instrument at clearing levels. Successful placement was ensured by premarketing and bookbuilding, which also enabled Paribas to find the right price.

n Province of British Columbia Rating: Aa2/AA-

Non-US corporates have joined a rush of issuers seeking to come to the US bond markets ahead of the FOMC meeting at the end of June, with Qantas Airways yesterday launching a $350m 144A 10 year bond and UK's Diageo and United News & Media both looking to price $1bn bonds in the week ahead. On Thursday, Merrill Lynch launched Qantas's 7.75% of 2009 bonds at a price of 99.904 or 185bp over Treasuries to yield 7.764%, in line with market

Edward Crook has joined Salomon Smith Barney in New York where he will be a senior member of the bank's acquisition finance group and responsible for the high yield and leveraged loans business for the firm's financial sponsor clients. At Salomon, Crook will work with Chad Leat, head of the loans division, and Steve Jones, who is in charge of the high yield business. Crook joins from Merrill Lynch where he worked in the high yield and leveraged loan group for three years. His main focus was on the financial sponsor business in the US and Europe, working on deals such as the LBO of HMV that was arranged by Merrill and Warburg Dillon Read.

Despite recent market turbulence and wider secondary spreads, demand for new issue high yield product appeared to be holding up well this week with the successful pricing of a £250m equivalent 10 year transaction for broad band operator Energis. Lead managed by Goldman Sachs, the deal was split between a £125m tranche priced at a spread of 450bp over Gilts and a $200m tranche priced at a spread of 387.5bp over US Treasuries.

n Bank of Scotland Treasury Services plc Guarantor: Bank of Scotland

Argentina turned its focus to European retail investors as the best of an unappetising list of funding options to sell Eu350m of five year bonds, as the republic gears up to sell at least a further $2.5bn in the international bond markets before October. The deal, led by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, was increased from an original Eu250m after trading up on the break as retail investors saw its relative value against other, more expensive euro-denominated paper from Argentina.

Asia n Hong Kong Turbo Mortgage Funding Ltd

Brazil is calling on banks for bond proposals in dollars and euros as it readies itself to tap the international markets again, as early as this month.

Cemex adopted a cautious approach to the shaky Latin new issue market in dollars this week to raise $250m of three year Yankee bonds. Although the deal was initially expected to be $200m to $300m in size and in the 350bp spread area, nervous markets ahead of the Fed's FOMC meeting in late June convinced lead managers Chase (books) and Salomon Smith Barney to take a more prudent approach to the new issue market. The leads first launched the deal at $200m and at a 362.5bp spread before increasing it to $250m.

BAYERISCHE Landesbank and WestLB have won the mandate to arrange a £150m new money deal for Chelsea Building Society. Details are still sketchy, although it is understood that the loan has a maturity of five years. The loan is the latest in a string of facilities for financial institutions in the British Isles. Other deals in the market - or on the verge of being launched - include the £250m five year credit for West Bromwich Building Society arranged by Barclays and Bayerische Landesbank, the Eu500m facility for First Active of Ireland that is still to be officially mandated and the £100m deal for Cheshire Building Society that is being arranged by ABN Amro and Barclays.

Colombia's highly coveted investment grade rating from Moody's Investors Service hung in the balance yesterday after the rating agency put the country's Baa3 long term foreign currency ceiling and the Ba1 ceiling on its bank deposits on review for possible downgrade. Yields on Colombia's investment grade 2009 10 year dollar bond have jumped to over 12.5% from 10% just a few weeks ago, in anticipation that Moody's would ultimately downgrade the country to sub-investment grade status.