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SWAP SPREADS continued to hold up well in the dollar sector this week despite another busy period of new issuance. Five year swap spreads began the week at around 62.5bp mid-market and firmed a touch to 63.5bp by Thursday. Meanwhile the 10 year mid-market was no lower than 74.5bp at the beginning of the week, and was around the same level yesterday (Thursday).

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THE INTERNATIONAL market for callable bonds sprang into life this week when Fannie Mae launched the first in a programme of jumbo issues which it hopes will establish the product as a liquid global asset class.

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THE POLISH loans market is gathering strength of the back of deals for foreign owned banks, which are gradually making more lenders comfortable with eastern European names after the Russian crisis last year. The latest Polish bank with a large foreign owned stake to look at the loan market is Slanski Bank, and its foreign shareholder is ING Bank.

LEAD MANAGER Morgan Stanley Dean Witter has set the price range for shares in Spanish construction group Ferrovial at Eu20.75 to Eu22.95, giving the company a conservative valuation against comparable groups in its sector. The books on the $1bn flotation are due to close today (Friday), with strong demand indicating a top-of-the-range issue price. The success of Ferrovial's float is an important stepping stone in rebuilding confidence among Spanish corporates in the new issue market after last year's events.

THE INTERNATIONAL market for callable bonds sprang into life this week when Fannie Mae launched the first in a programme of jumbo issues which it hopes will establish the product as a liquid global asset class. The US agency aims to repeat the success of its similar bullet note programme with its latest innovation in the international bond markets -- the Callable Benchmark Note programme.

GOLDMAN Sachs and Lehman Brothers plan to launch the sale of stock in Cellcom, the Israeli cellular phone group, in June. The deal has been eagerly awaited among sector investors keen to get exposure to the Israeli market. The lead managers had hoped to launch the deal last year, but it was postponed in the wake of the markets' volatility.

AMEV LEVEN, a subsidiary of Fortis Group, this week launched the first non-cumulative capital securities issue by an insurance company, a three tranche Eu650m transaction led by Merrill Lynch. Modelled on bank tier 1 capital, the structure enabled Fortis to raise tax efficient, non-dilutive capital, refinance acquisition related short term debt, and ensure favourable accounting and rating agency treatment.

* Commerzbank AG Rating: Aa3/AA-

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THE GERMAN state of Hessen this week launched a blow-out Eu1bn July 2009 benchmark issue, winning plaudits from the underwriting community for its investor driven approach to pricing and marketing. Successfully tapping the Euromarkets has long been a goal of several German states, but previous attempts to access the European investor base have often failed as states have stubbornly refused to compromise on the funding levels they achieve in domestic markets.