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THE CHINESE government's abrupt closure this week of its second largest International Trust & Investment Corporation (Itic) and one of its 10 original international windows has been interpreted as a politically motivated but largely positive development in its efforts to clean up the republic's financial system. Asian bankers concluded that initial reports focusing on the implications of the Guangdong Itic's (Gitic) demise for the overall financial system have obscured the important political message the Chinese government was trying to put across.

THE NTT DoCoMo sale looks set to be a major success, despite the daunting scale of the $15bn IPO and massive pressure from the Nikkei following a 5.8% fall yesterday (Thursday) which was the largest drop in seven years. The sale of 545,000 shares led by Goldman Sachs and Nikko is due to be priced on Monday at around ¥3.6m, slightly below last week's expectations. Market turmoil has prompted investors to seek pricing in the lower half of the ¥3.3m to ¥4.3m range.

Australia The Queensland Government has appointed JB Were to lead manage the sale of its remaining 31% stake in Suncorp-Metway which provides banking and insurance services. Part of the offer will be in the form of 142.5m exchanging instalment receipts and part from a two-for-one rights offer. A total of A$1.012bn could be raised from the deal and 75% of the shares will be sold to the public.

THE Indian government looks set to announce a U-turn in privatisation policy which might push DR sales for Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), VSNL and Concor well into next year. Government officials told Euroweek that an announcement on the programme was imminent and did not deny that efforts might be re-focused towards strategic sales of stakes in smaller companies. Nalco, which has mandated Jardine Fleming; Modern Foods, which has mandated ANZ Grindlays; and ITDC which may have mandated HSBC, are likely immediate second tier targets for strategic sales by government.

The first major corporate debt refinancing from Indonesia was settled this week, with 32 banks coming to an agreement with PT Trakindo Utama, a local distributor for Caterpillar. Chase Manhattan led the talks on a restructuring of $171m in debt comprising two syndicated loans and a number of bilaterals. The provisional deal comprises an agreement whereby Trakindo will pay $81m immediately with further payments spread out over a period of three years at a price of 300bp over Sibor. The company also agreed to provide further guarantees in the form of collateral from its receivables and those of a Singapore-based subsidiary.

POSCO has overtaken the float of Korea Telecom in the government's privatisation programme, mandating Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney and Dongwon Securities to lead manage the deal, due to be completed in November. Although final decisions about the scale of the transaction have yet to be taken, the issue will likely involve a 3.1% stake which could raise over $150m.

Thailand Standard & Poor's (S&P) assigned a new series of ratings downgrades across the Thai banking sector this week, cutting the long term foreign currency ratings of Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank and Bank of Ayudhya and the local currency rating of the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand (IFCT).

* Trustees for the international securitisations executed by Japan Leasing Corp, which filed for bankruptcy on September 27, are close to agreement with the preservation trustee appointed by the court to oversee the reorganisation of JLC on a plan to ensure the securitisations continue to perform. Bankers Trustee Co, which acts as bond trustee for the deals, is to announce details to noteholders shortly.

Angola Sonangol, the national oil company of Angola, has mandated ING Barings to arrange a $45m, six year credit facility to finance the company's share of the costs of a water injection platform for the Kungulo field in the Cabinda concession area, off the coast of Angola.

SWEDISH student housing company Statliga Akademiska Hus has established a $1bn Euro-MTN programme. Arranged by JP Morgan, the programme is the fourth funding facility set up by the government owned entity, following the establishment of domestic MTN and CP programmes and a Euro-CP facility. Driving the borrower's move into the international markets is the growing need to diversify funding sources in an increasingly competitive market.

OIL BUSINESS Conoco has begun the marketing for its planned $3.3bn IPO which, if successful, would be the largest US flotation so far this year. The fate of the deal will be closely watched; after the lull in the IPO market last month, there are a number of new companies lining up for launch in the coming weeks, prepared to risk the difficult market.

ARGENTINA this week lowered the desperation factor in its quest for $14bn of funds for 1999 by announcing its well anticipated $5.7bn package from multilaterals and private sector sources. The funds, announced by finance minister Roque Fernandez at the IMF meeting in Washington, will be enough to cover its needs until the second quarter of 1999 without having to go to the international bond markets.