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LATIN AMERICAN bonds went into freefall yesterday (Thurday) as investors continued to liquidate these and other emerging market bonds to cover Russian losses. Argentine 2006s were trading around 1,195bp from 846bp last Friday, with the 2017s at 1,220bp from 833bp and the 2027s at 1,010bp from 769bp. Brazilian 2008s were quoted at 1,350bp from 1,084bp last Friday and its 2027s at 1,390bp from 1,049bp.

THE MOST concrete signs yet of the impact of the global financial turmoil on banks and asset management firms emerged this week as market participants began to worry openly that the meltdown could claim some surprising and high-profile casualties. Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), the highly leveraged and previously revered US hedge fund run by former Salomon traders, only avoided collapse on Wednesday after the New York Federal Reserve orchestrated a $4.3bn bail-out by 16 commercial and investment banks.

In a highly unusual, although not unprecedented, move, Japan's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) agreed earlier this week to guarantee a roughly ¥70bn ($510m) loan to the country that will be repackaged as a bond for international investors.

In a highly unusual, although not unprecedented, move, Japan's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) agreed earlier this week to guarantee a roughly ¥70bn ($510m) loan to the country that will be repackaged as a bond for international investors. The deal will be led by two Japanese houses - contrary to market expectations that any future international debt issuance from the country would start funding a restructuring of the banking sector, via mandated advisers JP Morgan and Salomon Smith Barney.

DEUTSCHE BANK and BBL have launched the IPO of Mobistar, the Belgian mobile telephone operator - a divestment by core shareholders including France Télécom and local operator Telefino, which represents one of the largest and most important deals to emerge from Belgium for some time. "This represents an excellent sector to look at for a first time buyer in Belgian equities," said one analyst. "If anything will sell in the current climate, telecoms will and Mobistar looks set to be the proxy for this sector in Belgium."

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ITALIAN UTILITY Enel successfully launched its heavily premarketed Eu1bn debut this week, proving that given careful preparation even unrated corporates can tap the Euromarkets in times of volatility. After weeks of triple-A credits maintaining a monopoly on issuance on the back of the crisis-induced flight to quality, several corporates tapped the Euromarkets.

THE KINGDOM of Belgium is to build on the success of its short term Belgian Treasury Bills programme by adding a facility for issuance in Belgian francs and the euro. Belgium set up the programme in July 1996 to issue short dated instruments outside its local currency through a dealer group.

BANQUE Nationale de Paris, Citibank and Paribas will be officially mandated by Carrefour over the next few days to arrange a jumbo Ffr19bn credit, Euroweek can exclusively reveal. The three banks have a verbal mandate from the French supermarket chain and are close to agreeing the deal's terms.