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Egypt National Bank of Egypt has mandated Citibank to co-ordinate its $150m facility.

LEAD MANAGER Deutsche Bank has completed the sale of stock in Morphosys, the first German biotech company to list on the Neuer Markt. The company attracted exceptional demand for its IPO, and trading was unaffected by the tremors that rocked the market mid-week and by the gathering storm that led to the resignation of the country's finance minister Oskar Lafontaine.

THE GERMAN Länder this week launched their latest jumbo and received an all too familiar response from market participants. The only surprise was the market's muted reaction. But even that offered little solace to the German states involved in the transaction, signalling only that after a series of unsuccessful deals bankers and investors have learned what to expect. "This is a never-ending story," said the head of syndicate at one German bank. "They talk about launching a strategic deal, but it's never going to happen."

Merrill Lynch has hired Matthew Collins to head its European leveraged finance group's origination activities. Collins, who will be based in London, will focus his efforts on syndicated high yield bonds for European-based financial sponsors and strategic M&A related financings.

Market commentary:

The Republic of Panama pulled a $500m 20 year bond issue this week when investors, questioning its pricing and choice of lead manager, demanded a higher premium to comparable bonds. "Today, having filled orders to complete its issue, the Republic of Panama announced it decided not to price its 20 year offering because the rates offered were considered too high," the republic said in a statement.

Croatia's fledgling corporate debt markets are set for a major boost over the coming months with a number of new products set to be launched. They follow the establishment of a groundbreaking Hrk400m domestic commercial paper programme by Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva last year - the first of its kind in the country. The programme's arranger Privredna Banka Zagreb is looking to add to the range of debt products currently available in Croatia, with the launch of index linked and euro denominated instruments.

Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette has appointed Alex Graham as managing director and head of European equity capital markets. He will join DLJ next month from BT Alex Brown, where he was head of global syndication and European equity capital markets. His career at BT Alex Brown was a brief one, having joined two years ago from Salomon Brothers where he was head of European equity capital markets and syndicate in London.

Czech Republic The City of Prague has requested bids for a Eu200m financing plan, due by March 18, with a maturity of no less than 10 years.

Argentina

* Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

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