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Royal KPN will next week launch its $3bn global bond via Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and UBS Warburg, but will not offer investors the protection offered by the rating sensitive coupons it included on its Eu6bn funding package in May. The new issue, including five, 10 and 30 year dollar tranches and a five year euro piece, will take advantage of the improved sentiment towards the telecoms sector since Telefónica's $6bn equivalent issue blew out last week, and of dollar investors' greater readiness to take on the undiluted credit risk of KPN.

Argentina Barclays Bank (Miami) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria have been mandated to arrange a $150m two-year loan-style FRN for Banco Frances SA.

The Olympics has spurred on the usually slothful bunch of MTNers to more sporty activities. Last week saw Islandsbanki-FBA and Landsvirkjin put on their annual bash. Alas, Henry Nevstad, who stole the 1999 show by jumping into freezing rivers from high cliffs, could not make it this year. He was basking in his new-found wealth on a Greek island. But new boys Nabil Aboulzelof from Barclays and Garrath Fulford from Chase got a taste of the arctic fun laid on by Bill Symington and Ingvar Ragnarsson from FBA. Being driven at high speed across glaciers in very small vehicles reduced most of the dealers to whimpering wrecks. Ah, what they will do for a few basis points. The week also saw hearty goings on in Holland, with Dick Visser in charge of the Rabobank fun. Morgan Stanley's Frair Appleby-Walker and the usual sailing crowd were there while the landlubbers chose Rheinhyp's golf day in Dublin. Present were Klaus, from Morgan Stanley and Merrill's Dean 'the dog' Fogg, whose greatest moment this year was beating the Alpha/Beta boys over 18 holes. But one of the market's biggest Irish stars, K2's cuddly David Hartigan, has gone missing. He has left the Dresdner SPV, leaving Jim Gibbons in charge. Vicious rumours are circulating that Jon Saunders and him are to swap jobs. Also Bear Stearns has recruited Faye Mythen, from Abbey, to run its MTN trading.

The Lebanese republic launched a $450m three year hybrid fixed rate/floater transaction late yesterday afternoon (Thursday), and provided some consolation for the postponement of its first 20 year global offering a fortnight ago and Monday's downgrade by Standard&Poor's (S&P).

The Lebanese republic launched a $450m three year hybrid fixed rate/floater transaction late yesterday afternoon (Thursday), and provided some consolation for the postponement of its first 20 year global offering a fortnight ago and Monday's downgrade by Standard&Poor's (S&P).

The European loan market demonstrated its seemingly limitless capacity to absorb telecoms paper this week with the successful closure of the syndications of the Eu8bn facility for Telefónica and the Eu18bn facility for Deutsche Telekom. The combined deals took up some Eu26bn of bank capacity at a time when some institutions are concerned by over exposure in their portfolios to telco paper.

MBNA International Bank changed the habit of a lifetime this week by issuing the senior tranche of its latest securitisation of UK credit cards in euros and doubling its usual issuance size. The Eu725m 10 year fixed rate bond, designed to broaden MBNA's investor base outside the UK, was seen as a complete success. Some 25 institutions from across Europe participated in the tranche, some of which had never bought ABS before.

Merrill Lynch conducted a Eu1bn block trade in French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Synthélab stock earlier this week following a competitive bid to purchase the shares from Total Fina Elf. A total of 18.2m shares in the Paris-listed company were sold at Eu55 - a 3.85% discount to the market close on Monday of Eu57.20. Merrill will have paid somewhat less than the Eu55 it sold the shares on for. It is unclear whether the terms of the bid specified the resale price.

* Dresdner Kleinwort Benson has appointed a head of Latin American bond origination. Susan Dingilian comes from BNP Paribas, where she was head of Latin American debt capital markets. It is a newly created role. Dingilian will report to Garret Curran, head of emerging market origination, and will divide her time between London and New York, becoming full time in New York early next year.

Abu Dhabi Mandated arrangers BNP Paribas and Citibank/SSSB began the sub-underwriting phase yesterday (Thursday) of the $1.015bn project financing for the Taweelah A1 independent water and power project. Potential sub-underwriters have been sent strict confidentiality undertakings ahead of receiving full invitations on Monday.

Europe is set to gain its first tracing stock courtesy of Alcatel and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The instrument will allow investors to gain from a particular area of Alcatel's activity. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter will begin premarketing Alcatel's tracking stock for Alcatel Optronics on Monday in a deal that will raise around Eu1.5m.

NEC Corporation has dropped Sumitomo Trust International as a dealer off its $2 billion Euro-MTN programme.