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ING Barings notched up two successes this week with the sale of stock in Petroplus International, the local Dutch group which is concerned with storage, distribution and refining crude oil, and the sale of shares in Scala Business Solutions. The lead manager priced the Petroplus shares this week at the top end of the indicated price range of Dfl 22 to Dfl 27, and sold 3.4m shares to investors on a book which was more than 10 times covered by the domestic retail market alone.

* Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten Rating: Aaa/AAA

MERRILL Lynch has launched the sale of stock in EFG Hermes, the diversified Egyptian finance group, aiming to buck months of bearish sentiment toward Middle Eastern equity markets. Recent stock sales such as that for the Lebanese construction group, Solidère, have been postponed on the back of declining interest in the emerging markets; bankers hope the appearance of EFG signals a recovery in sentiment toward the region.

Argentina * Republic of Argentina

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WHO THOUGHT that the once mighty Nomura had thrown in the Euro towel and sponge -- oh ye of little faith? Just because Wednesday's results were dire (but not quite as bad as Nikko's), and Nomura languishes in the sluices of the primary league tables, there is no need to look up the number of the local undertaker. With the intellectually and financially formidable Max Chapman in charge and stars such as Craig Schiffer and Andrew Asbury behind their desks, Nomura is quite capable of making a Euromarket charge at any time -- the bank is not interested in making the big US push it would need to figure once again at the top of the headline 'all international bonds' tables.

* Kingdom of Denmark Rating: Aa1/AA+

India Market participants believe Barclays Capital has received the mandate for a project financing for Bina Power Supply Co for the Bina Power Project.

* European Investment Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

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