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n Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) has mandated Westpac to arrange an A$3bn domestic MTN programme as part of its continuing efforts to reduce debt levels through the restructuring or refinancing of existing debt at cheaper levels. The mining and minerals company said that Warburg Dillon Read has been mandated as lead manager alongside Westpac for a roughly A$500m bond issue, roadshows for which will begin early next month.

St George Bank sold a $1bn global mortgage backed bond last Friday, only the second Australian issuer to take that route. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston, Crusade Global Trust No 1 of 1999 garnered a host of new MBS buyers for St George, and gave the bank funding in a size not available in the domestic or Euromarkets. "We placed notes with 32 individual investors," said Peter Gow, chief manager of structured investments and securitisation at St George in Sydney. "And 63% of the total was allocated to new buyers in the US and Europe. That substantiated the decision to go down the global path."

FOLLOWING the Eu300m seven year revolver for the City of Gothenburg, lenders to municipalities can look forward to deals for about Skr2bn, or about Eu200m to Eu300m each for Västra Götalandsregionen and Stockholm Lans Lansting. For the pricing of these credits, one banker said: "The City of Gothenburg has set a useful benchmark which helps us make our bids. These deals might carry a premium over Gothenburg of a couple of basis points."

ABN Amro Rothschild and Warburg Dillon Read were forced to concede defeat on Wednesday in their sale of San Miguel's A$1bn stake in Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA). Following a confusing 24 hour period in which the sale price of the stock was seemingly lowered, the vendor rejected the new price and halted the sale of 21.5% of CCA.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia established its inaugural stand-alone international benchmark this week when it launched a surprise $500m fixed rate offering. Commonwealth Bank had been expected to test the market with a floating rate note, but the Aa3/AA-/AA rated issuer decided to opt for fixed rate funding in an attempt to reach a broader range of accounts.

The complexities of simultaneously bringing China Telecom to the equity and debt markets have made the group an unlikely candidate to be the next debt issuer from the People's Republic. Although roadshows for what is shaping up to be a $2bn equity offering and $1bn debt offering are scheduled for late October, bankers say that a number of factors could derail the whole process.

Korean banks continued their onslaught on the dollar market this week, as they seek cheap re-financing ahead of the October 8 deadline for the next coupon payment under the government's exchange programme. Korea Development Bank (KDB) made its second splash of the year in the sector yesterday (Thursday) with the launch of a $500m three year fixed rate offering via sole lead JP Morgan.

n Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale Rating: Aaa/AAA

Rating: AAA Amount: Eu250m (fungible with four issues totalling Eu1.5bn first launched 05/11/98) Öffentlicher Pfandbrief series 859

Criticism of the European Investment Bank's EARNs programme grew this week following the supranational's decision not to launch a new benchmark, but to reopen an existing line. Under the programme announced in early March the EIB is committed to raising Eu2bn each quarter through benchmarks of at least Eu2bn or through the reopening of outstanding EARNs.

Dollar swaps bucked their volatile trend of the past few weeks as the 10 year swap spread was range bound after the expected September deluge failed to materialise. Ten year swaps traded between 91bp and 94bp for most of the week, before settling at around 92.5bp mid-market yesterday (Thursday). The five year is dealing at around 77bp/78bp.

Duke Capital and Goldman Sachs set the trend in the US market this week by issuing blow-out global bonds. Duke, led by Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan, made its debut in the global market with a $1.5bn three tranche offering that was increased by $500m and priced at the tightest end of a revised spread talk. Goldman launched an own account $1bn 10 year deal, increased from $750m.