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The European Investment Bank this week illustrated its growing affection for the sterling market when it launched the first transaction off its newly established sterling inflation linked borrowing programme. Faced with difficulties squaring its funding targets with the levels investors are willing to pay for the supranational in its home market of euros - witness last week's jarring EARNs issue, the EIB has over the past two years dramatically increased the weighting of sterling in its annual fundraising.

Argentina * Province of Buenos Aires

Electricite de France has cancelled its unlimited Euro-CP programme and signed a new $1.5 billion facility. Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers, join the arranger, Goldman Sachs, on the dealer panel. Schweizerischer Bankverein and UBS Warburg, both dealers on the old programme, have not been reinstated.

The recent broadening of the Australian corporate bond market was taken a step further this week, with the launch of a triple-B rated A$160m bond issue from Envestra Victoria - the first triple-B rated corporate issue in the Australian domestic market this year. Bankers said there was a good response from investors to Envestra Victoria's debut MTN offering, and that the signs were encouraging for further issues from triple-B rated corporate issuers. "This is one of the few triple-B rated names to have tapped the market," said an official at one of the lead managers. "The fact that the reception was so good shows that the appetite among investors for slightly lower rated credits is growing as part of the overall development of the domestic corporate bond market.

The Eu40m-Eu46m secondary listing of pharmacological analysis company Eurofins Scientific may be the only survivor of a turbulent week on the Neuer Markt when it closes today. The Nouveau Marché listed company is offering 1.155m shares at Eu35-Eu40 and has already had strong demand. WestLB is lead manager and bookrunner for the deal. HSBC Trinkaus is senior co-lead and Crédit Lyonnais is co-manager.

* Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA Rating: A1/A/A+

* BAWAG Capital Finance (Jersey) Inc Amount: Eu150m non-cumulative preferred securities

Euro swap spreads were stable for much of the week and turnover in the inter-bank market low as the Middle East, equity weakness and the lamentable fate of the euro dominated events. The curve flattened over the course of the week, as the feebleness of the currency kept short end spreads well bid. The three year versus 20 year swap curve flattened by about 3bp on Thursday.

Rating agency Fitch is to absorb Thomson BankWatch, in its bid to catch up with Moody's and Standard & Poor's as a leading global provider of credit ratings. Fimalac, the group that owns Fitch, will acquire BankWatch in return for granting a 3.4% stake in Fitch to The Thomson Corp. The merger is expected to be finalised in about a month.

France Telecom has increased the ceiling off its Euro-MTN programme by euro19.5 billion ($16.38 billion), taking it to euro27.5 billion. The programme, signed in October 1997, has $7.66 billion outstanding off 20 trades. The increase follows a spate of recent enlargements, most notably British Telecommunication's $17 billion hike of its Euro-MTN facility ceiling to $20 billion on June 6, and Deutsche Telecom's increase to euro10 billion from euro3 billion on May 15. Although France Telecom is not involved in the bidding, the increase comes during Italy's UMTS licence auction, which began yesterday, Thursday 19.

France Télécom this week undertook roadshows ahead of its Eu5bn equivalent transaction, which is expected in the coming weeks via Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Despite the stormy credit markets, rocked by volatile equity prices, demand for FT paper is said to be growing strongly. However, price talk has yet to be refined because of the see-sawing of swap and credit spreads, and the difficulty in calling the direction of the market.