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BANKS involved in Siam Commercial Bank's (SCB) $1.75bn recapitalisation said investors are warming to the fifth largest Thai bank's story as premarketing begins in earnest for the deal, which will raise around $750m in new equity. Final details of the preferred share sale, led by Salomon Smith Barney, will be confirmed when the plan is put to shareholders on April 5. Despite local rumours to the contrary, bankers said there had been no increase in the size of the deal during the week.

THE PROSPECT of a new dollar benchmark from the State Development Bank of China (SDB) has grown brighter following the recent strong secondary market trading of sovereign paper. Joint lead managers Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney are actively looking at the market in preparation for launching $500m 10 year global that may come as soon as late April.

THE REPUBLIC of the Philippines is continuing to cement its reputation as Asia's most active borrower, moving ahead with plans to refinance its $610m one year term loan due September this year. Having already all but completed its 1999 fundraising programme, the government has recently been focusing on its refinancing needs and the more careful management of existing liabilities.

MERRILL Lynch will launch Shinhan Bank's $400m GDR sale on Monday in a brave move that will see the deal roadshowed over the Easter holiday with pricing likely during the weekend of April 11. A syndicate including Crédit Lyonnais Securities Asia, HSBC Investment Bank, Jardine Fleming and local houses LG Securities and Shinhan Securities, have joined joint lead Hyundai Securities in the deal.

IFCO Inc, the captive finance company in Japan of truck and car manufacturer Isuzu Motors, brought its first international securitisation this week, with a $170m Eurobond sole managed by DKB International. IFCO has previously securitised auto loans in the Japanese commercial paper and private placement markets -- it is now following the path trodden by its larger counterparts in the Nissan, Mitsubishi and Mazda groups, all of which have issued public ABS this year in search of off-balance sheet finance from a new investor base.

Goldman Sachs, ING Barings and Jardine Fleming have been appointed as advisers to the Exchange Fund Investment, the arm of the Hong Kong government which holds HK$158bn of shares bought in market intervention last August. The EFI board has accepted proposals including placements, unitisation, exchangeable bonds and corporate buybacks to sell down the shares, which include around 10% of most of Hong Kong's leading corporates including HSBC.

INDONESIA's stalled privatisation programme fell victim to yet another delay this week as the increasingly unstable country prepares for elections that threaten to tear it apart. The government had originally planned to sell stakes in 14 firms in the fiscal year ending this month, including two taken over by the government due to financial difficulties last year.

HYUNDAI Securities, ING Barings and Salomon Smith Barney are on the brink of successfully completing Kepco's $500m ADR sale, starting a flow of deals from Korea that bankers hope will broaden across the region. A total of 42m ADRs will be priced later today (Friday), but indications are that the sale would be completed at the low end of the parity to 5% premium over existing ADRs given earlier in the week.

Rabobank Nederland Rating: Aaa/AAA

* A HK$500m two year public issue was launched this week for Sun Hung Kai Properties. The A2/A rated issue, launched off the group's EMTN programme, was led by HSBC Markets with pricing at 99.80 and a quarterly coupon of 8%. ICBC was named as joint lead. * The long expected MITI (Ministry of Trade & Industry) backed bond for Thailand's Petroleum Authority was launched last week by Citicorp.

Commerzbank AG Rating: Aa3/AA-

ARGENTARIA broke new ground this week with the launch of a Eu1bn Pfandbrief-style bond, the first jumbo mortgage security to be launched by a Spanish bank. Joint lead managed by Argentaria and Goldman Sachs, the 10 year transaction was greeted with interest by the market but was generally deemed slightly tight at its spread of 40bp over Bunds and 7bp over the DePfa jumbo of January 2009.