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As the outlook for Korea continues its dramatic improvement, investment bankers in their droves are visiting the republic's issuers in the hope of securing a flood of new mandates. But their enthusiasm may be premature, with funding officials wary of repeating past mistakes and the Korean authorities pointing issuers in the direction of Korea's domestic bond market. Jackie Horne reports.

GOLDMAN Sachs remained confident of the success of Shandong International Power Development's (SIPD) $220m 'H' share offer this week amid expectations of a lower price range. In a move that surprised the market, Goldman's only concession to a resolutely negative market tone has been to keep the deal open over the weekend to spur greater US investor involvement.

MERRILL Lynch is to launch premarketing for its ambitious mortgage backed transaction for Wharf Holdings on Monday, providing the Hong Kong securitisation market with its first real challenge since April 1998. After a promising few years, the market was all but closed for the whole of last year with the combined impact of currency pressures on the Hong Kong/US dollar peg, Hibor rates rising above Prime and a 40% collapse in property prices making virtually any deal untenable.

THE REPUBLIC of the Philippines will kick off roadshows for its inaugural euro-denominated bond in Tokyo on February 22, hoping to become the first Asian credit to crack the new currency sector. The Ba1/BB+ credit is hoping to spread the distribution net for its roughly Eu500m deal as wide as possible, lining up presentations in seven cities: Tokyo, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt, Zurich and London, ending on February 25.

China Shanghai Matsuoka aims to break a seven month hiatus in new issue activity on the Shanghai 'B' share market with a $30m IPO.

WARBURG Dillon Read reopened the Taiwanese convertible sector this week with a $120m deal for Delta Electronics. While bankers were initially sceptical of the issue's potential for success given its pricing, by yesterday (Thursday) demand was strong with the book close to being covered.

COMPETITION is hotting up among bankers pitching for the advisory mandate for Exchange Fund Investment (EFI), which holds HK$158bn ($20.4bn) in blue chip Hong Kong stocks bought with public funds during the authorities' market intervention last year. Meetings will finish on Saturday. The EFI holds 33 different stocks, which equate to around 7% of the Hang Seng Index.

NISSAN CREDIT Corp, the Japanese carmaker's finance subsidiary, launched its second securitisation of auto loans this week through Aries Funding Corp II. "The deal went very well," said Hideyuki Kawashima, head of syndicate at sole lead IBJ International. "We sold mainly to banks in continental Europe, plus some UK clients."

THE CENTRAL and eastern European euro express looks set to accelerate further with the news this week that the Republic of Slovenia has become the latest sovereign from the region to ask banks to bid for the lead management role on an issue denominated in the single European currency. A3/A rated Slovenia, central and eastern Europe's top rated credit, is understood to have asked for proposals on a probable Eu400m 10 year transaction. This is expected to be the sole international bond offering from the highly regarded country -- a fast track candidate for EU membership early in the millennium.

IN AN ATTEMPT to capitalise on improving investor sentiment towards Latin America, the United Mexican Sates will today (Friday) launch a $1bn 10 year Brady-linked global bond via Goldman Sachs. The innovative offering for the Ba2/BB rated sovereign will include warrants giving holders of Mexico's $19bn of outstanding Par and Discount Brady bonds the right to exchange their bonds for a new floating rate note due 2004 and a reopening of Mexico's 11.375% 2016 global fixed rate issue.

* The City of Prague, central and eastern Europe's top rated municipal credit, is understood to have asked banks to submit proposals for a probable Eu200m seven to 10 year issue. Expectations are that a lead management mandate will be awarded towards the end of this month. In April 1994 Prague, rated by Standard & Poor's at the A- sovereign ceiling for the Czech Republic, was the first central and eastern municipality to tap the Euromarkets, launching a well received $250m 7.75% five year Eurobond via Nomura which matures on May 10 this year.

THE REPUBLIC of Argentina was able to issue the first Euromarket offerings from a Latin American sovereign of 1999 this week as investor concerns about Brazil eased. The Ba3/BB rated sovereign tapped the euro sector for a total of Eu450m. The first element of Argentina's financing exercise comprised a Eu100m three year private placement via Credit Suisse First Boston, which the lead manager placed with a predominantly retail audience in Italy. Featuring an 8% coupon, the issue was priced to yield 8.74% on a re-offer price of 98.11 and will be listed on the Milan stock exchange.