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* African Development Bank Rating: Aaa/AA+

THE SAFRA private banking group has made its mark on the world's bond markets by being the first issuer ever to offer a 1,000 year 'millennium' bond. The $250m 144A transaction was launched by Republic National Bank of Luxembourg on behalf of its parent Safra Republic Holdings -- the Geneva-based umbrella for a number of banks the three Safra brothers Edmond, Moises and Joseph own in Latin America, the US, Europe and Israel, including Brazil's Banco Safra and New York's Republic National Bank of New York.

Finland Expect news imminently of a new facility for Cultor Ltd. The company, which was last in the market for a $270m revolving credit through Merita Bank and UBS in February 1996, has hired the same two banks to arrange its latest foray.

STRONG investor interest enabled Banco Rio de la Plata to boost the size of its initial public offering on Thursday night to raise $719m -- the biggest Argentine IPO so far in 1997. The deal was priced at $15 per ADR, in the middle of its $14 to $17 price range. Rather than push the market for a higher price, global coordinators Merrill Lynch and Santander suggested the selling shareholder increase the stock up for sale from an original 34.5m ADS and ADS equivalents to 42.32m.

* European Investment Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

* Stagecoach Holdings plc Amount: £125m

THE REPUBLIC of Colombia this week faced the embarrassment of becoming the only Latin sovereign to fall down the credit spectrum instead of moving up this year, when Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on the country and a number of its issuers this week. While affirming the republic's long term foreign currency BBB- rating, S&P said it had cut its outlook from positive to stable and said it had essentially discounted any prospect of an upgrade in the near term.

* L-Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

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THE UNITED Mexican States plans to become the first Latin sovereign issuer in Canadian dollars with a C$500m global bond due for launch in the next few weeks. The deal, mandated to Merrill Lynch and Scotia-McCleod, will be the first Canadian issue by any Latin borrower since Pemex's groundbreaking C$100m deal in 1993. The offering will roadshow in the week ahead, with pricing later in the month. Bankers not involved in the transaction suggested a launch spread of around 170bp over Canadian government bonds as the likely level.

ROSE Funding, NatWest Markets' corporate loan securitisation vehicle, brought its second jumbo deal yesterday (Thursday) to an enthusiastic reception from investors around the world. NatWest, via Repeat Offering Securitisation Entity Funding No 2, issued $5.5bn of dollar and sterling FRNs in 12 tranches, with a legal maturity in October 2004. Around half the deal, including both sterling and dollar notes, will be sold at closing into Rose Inc, NatWest's Delaware registered multiseller commercial paper conduit.

* Discover brought its second credit card securitisation of the year yesterday (Thursday) through Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, structured as an index amortising note. It is the first time the issuer has used this technique, and the first time that any index amortising transaction has been launched directly from a credit card master trust, rather than as a repackaging of credit card securities.