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THE SECURITISATION line-up at the new Warburg Dillon Read has been finalised, and as predicted in Euroweek last week, in Europe at least the former SBC has come out on top. Peter Shorthouse, head of SBC Warburg Dillon Read's European securitisation unit, retains that role in the new bank. The major losers are David Bonsall and Mark Lewis, respectively global and European head of securitisation at UBS. Both are understood to have left the bank this week.

STUDENT loans were securitised in the UK for the first time this week, as Greenwich NatWest brought a highly complex £1.03bn deal parcelling a unique portfolio of assets. NatWest had earlier won the mandate to privatise the first tranche of state loans to students in a year long competition organised by NM Rothschild & Sons.

* Merrill Lynch brought MBNA to the Deutschmark market this week with a DM1bn 10 year fixed rate deal. MBNA America European Structured Offerings No 4 was priced at 99.60 with a coupon of 5.125% to yield 34bp over the 5.25% January 2008 Bund. "There has been increased demand for Deutschmark spread product, especially at 10 years, and we took advantage," said a syndicate official at Merrill Lynch in London. "The deal went extremely well at 34bp, and the bond is now trading at 33.5bp/32.5bp. Demand came from a very wide range of investors right across Europe, particularly investment advisers, mutual funds and insurance companies."

SAKURA Bank this week brought the first securitisation of Japanese corporate loans since Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Japan Loan Securitisations deal last September, with a ¥45bn CLO sole managed by Sakura Finance International. Fuji Bank, by contrast, has cancelled a planned $2bn Japanese asset CLO through Goldman Sachs, due to be launched this week.

SANWA Bank became the latest Japanese bank to securitise North American corporate loans this week, as Lehman Brothers and Sanwa International brought a blow-out $1.7bn global deal. Excelsior Master Trust Series 1998-1 offered two senior tranches rated triple-A by Moody's and Standard & Poor's. Controlled amortisation gives them average lives of 2.99 and 4.99 years. Class 'A1', worth $952.51m, came at 18bp over three month Libor, while the $512.89m class 'A2' notes were priced at 24bp over Libor.

ROADSHOWS began in Hong Kong yesterday (Thursday) for a $350m project finance bond from Chinese infrastructure developer Cathay International Ltd. JP Morgan is lead manager for the issue, which bankers hope will set a new benchmark for a sector which though well regarded has suffered significant spread widening since October, in line with the market at large.

Modeling the term structure of interest rates has always been linked with complex probability theory and technical jargon that can act as a deterrent to exploring the world of derivative pricing.

THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has succeeded in drawing a dozen banks to commit $50m apiece to its three year club loan. Central monetary board officials said on Tuesday that the bank had already secured commitments totalling $600m, with a further five banks still considering whether to join the issue. Proceeds will be used to bolster foreign exchange reserves.

A UNIQUE conversion structure and credit enhancement ensured that the $180m offering from Teco Electric and Machinery was a blow-out success when it was priced yesterday (Thursday) at the most aggressive terms ever for a convertible from non-Japan Asia. Lead managers SBC Warburg and UBS said demand was overwhelming, with a total book of over $2bn. The $20m greenshoe is likely to be exercised in the next few weeks.

THAI Farmers bank is poised to launch an offering of $1bn in new shares which bankers hope will mark the start of a renaissance in the country's battered banking sector. Goldman Sachs has been appointed as sole bookrunner for the ambitious 386m share deal which, if successful, will make Thai Farmers the fourth largest company in Thailand in terms of market capitalisation.

THE KINGDOM of Thailand may launch a $500m Eurobond in the next two months, signalling the start of its planned $3bn to $5bn borrowing programme for the year. The country is bringing forward its return to the international markets, according to a finance ministry official, because it believes spreads have returned to a low enough level for the kingdom to raise funds to re-capitalise its banking system and revitalise the export sector.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is in the final stages of launching only the second major straight bond issue this year in Taiwan's domestic market. Led by Citicorp, with Capital Securities as joint lead, the NT$6bn transaction looks set to be the first offering by an international borrower to incorporate a floating rate tranche. Bankers said that the five year deal, for which syndicate invitations were tendered yesterday (Thursday), is to have one NT$4.5bn fixed rate tranche and one NT$1.5bn FRN tranche.