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THE TRÉSOR has launched the first of this year's French privatisations with the sale of stock in insurer Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance (CNP). The deal is run by ABN Amro Rothschild with CDC Marchés in charge of the local sale. The government has indicated in recent weeks that it would seek to defy turbulent market conditions by proceeding with the disposal of state owned assets. But the French authorities are expected to adopt a sensitive approach to pricing the equity on offer.

SO WHO SHOT Noreen Harrington? We heard rumours that the famous Euromarket heroine had run out of road at Barclays Capital last Thursday as we were about to go to press.

India Financial close and launch of syndication for the 580MW Bina power project in Madhur Pradesh will be reached in the fourth quarter 1998.

US biotechnology company Centaur Pharmaceuticals, which was to have started trading on the Swiss stock exchange this week, has postponed its IPO, blaming unstable market conditions. Centaur was to have been the first US biotechnology company listed in Switzerland, but had already been forced to reduce the size of the deal from 5.6m shares to 2.9m.

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* Crédit Local de France Rating: Aa1/AA+

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Brazil The $50m trade financing facility being arranged by Citicorp Securities for Compania Votorantim de Celulose e Papel (CELPAV) has been completed oversubscribed.

Abu Dhabi A decision on the winning bid for the Tawellah power and water desalination project should come imminently. Just two bidders remain -- CMS advised by Barclays Capital and Tractebel advised by Chase.

MBNA International Bank, the UK subsidiary of US credit card issuer MBNA, launched its sixth securitisation this week, a £250m five year floater lead managed by Barclays Capital. "The deal went very well in a volatile market," said a syndicate official at Barclays in London. "At 15bp it would have been a blowout, but at 14bp, in the middle of price talk, the paper was still oversubscribed. MBNA is very responsible in the way it approaches the market -- it knows it will have to come back to the market, and prices to achieve good secondary market performance."