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MERRILL Lynch all but closed down its fixed income operations in Asia this week, providing one of the most potent symbols yet of the depths to which the region's debt market has plummeted.

* The second private sector domestic bond issue from Thailand was launched late last week by cellular operator Advance Info Service plc. Led by Merrill Lynch Phatra Securities, the Bt2bn one year deal was priced at par to yield 12%. This followed a Bt4.65bn seven year subordinated commercial issue by Siam Commercial Bank, the previous day. Bankers said that both deals had been made possible by falling domestic interest rates.

PHILIPPINE Airlines' $75m securitisation of future ticket receivables is believed to have hit early amortisation triggers, after the airline stopped flying on September 23 amid mounting losses and disputes with staff. The securitisation, lead managed by Chase as an unrated Asian style FRN in November 1996, is backed by receivables from PAL's flights to the US. Although the airline now expects to resume international flying in mid-November, an interruption of that length is likely to be cited in bond documentation as a trigger for PAL to pay down the bond immediately.

Australia The Australian Stock Exchange became the first stockmarket to list itself, this week raising A$427.6m ($270.2m) for its 606 members. Shares in the ASX opened at A$4.10 each and gained throughout the day before closing at A$4.25.

RUSSIA'S Republic of Sakha is set to default on a $50.5m credit-linked note which falls due today (Friday) -- making it the first Russian region to fail to make repayment on a Euromarket obligation. The one year issue, structured via Cayman Islands-registered debt repackaging vehicle Earls Three, was lead managed by Deutsche Bank in October 1997.

Denmark ABN Amro, Citibank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi have raised $700m for the $500m credit facility for Borealis, the Danish petrochemicals company, with general syndication still to close.

MERRILL Lynch and Merita will shortly open the books on the Finnish government's sale of stock in Sonera, the national telecom operator. Following two weeks of pre-marketing, the deal looks in relatively good shape. "This is another Swisscom," said one banker. "The company is the telephone company in Finland and will be a good story, particularly for index funds and some of the passive investors in the region."

GLOBAL co-ordinators Schroders and Powszechny Bank Kredytowy w Warszawie (PBK) will next week launch the bookbuilding period for the Polish government's sale of stock in Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA), the country's national operator. The sale has been dogged by the emerging markets crisis and London salesmen are sceptical of investors' willingness to participate. Many smaller deals from central Europe have been cancelled as vendors able to wait for more stable market conditions plan to reconsider their options next year.

Market commentary Compiled by Tawanda Nyandoro, RBC DS Global Markets, London. Tel: +44 171-653 4870

WARBURG Dillon Read has postponed the IPO for Spanish travel reservation group Amadeus Global Travel Distribution. The deal had intended to raise $400m and was pulled as the vendors of the company rejected the valuation put on their assets by the market.

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* KfW International Finance Guarantor: Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau