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THE SUPPLY of primary equity from the Amsterdam stockmarket is to soar in the coming weeks as a number of the country's corporate names ready stock offerings. In addition to well known names, such as Koninklijke Ahold, a number of newly listed groups plan to raise funds while markets are strong.

National Westminster Bank will embark on the broadest ever bank capital raising exercise in the global debt markets in the coming weeks as part of its £10.75bn takeover of UK life insurance and pensions group Legal&General.

National Westminster Bank will embark on the broadest ever bank capital raising exercise in the global debt markets in the coming weeks as part of its £10.75bn takeover of UK life insurance and pensions group Legal&General.

THE GERMAN equity market is to host record levels of new equity issues, with between 45 and 50 transactions due to be launched on the Neuer Markt alone in the next few weeks. Bankers say this could raise up to Eu3.5bn for the country's high growth companies seeking to raise equity capital and for others wishing to augment their early growth by widening their shareholder base.

n Underwriters are hoping to revive the plan vanilla dollar market for Latin issuers in the next few weeks with a trio of deals from blue chip names. Cemex, Mexico's Banamex and multilateral CAF are all looking at possible dollar deals, according to bankers.

The Eurodollar market saw a wave of issuance in the early part of the week, while swap spreads gradually tightened. Although swaps remain close to all-time highs, secondary corporate spreads are trading wider still. This means that arbitrage is extremely elusive, and getting even harder to find. In fact, borrowers are often having to accept funding at levels less attractive than those to which they are accustomed, while others determine that current market conditions are simply too hostile (see box below).

Market commentary: Compiled by Glenn Blackley,

DePfa took its latest step away from the traditions of the Pfandbrief market this week when, through nimble swap operations that ensured Euribor minus funding, the mortgage bank priced its Eu3.5bn global superjumbo at an intended 52bp over Bunds - despite a 2bp to 3bp swap spread tightening between launch and pricing. German mortgage banks have always been among the most sensitive borrowers to any move in swap spreads and subsequent changes in the funding levels they can achieve. Such an arbitrage driven approach has in the past given jumbo issuers the reputation of being aggressive borrowers, as they have sought to ensure the finest possible pricing.

Arrangers ABN Amro and Merrill Lynch have successfully completed the co-arranging phase of the $3bn credit backing VNU's acquisition of Nielson. When the deal was first launched two weeks ago, certain market players derided its terms, saying they were too low. Some predicted the deal would crash ignominiously, leaving the arrangers with a large amount of low paying, albeit short term, debt on their balance sheets.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York introduced measures this week designed to ease liquidity in the repo market in the period around Y2K. The turn of the year is traditionally a period of high borrowing rates, but with great concern about the potential lack of liquidity in the market as the millennium approaches, bankers fear that the pressures will be much greater than normal.

Building society turned bank Northern Rock Plc raised £600m from its first issue of mortgage backed securities this week, and lent new credibility to hopes that securitisation could at last be entering the mainstream of UK bank finance. The UK has produced a regular stream of mortgage securitisations since the late 1980s, but most of the deals have always come from new entrants to the market, including, in the last few years, sub-prime lenders.

The Republic of Portugal made a rare foray into the dollar market this week when it took advantage of the scarcity of European sovereign paper in the sector to launch a $1bn five year transaction. Despite what was widely regarded as punchy pricing the deal, lead managed by Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch, performed well thanks to tightening swap spreads. Launched at 73bp over Treasuries on Tuesday, the deal was trading at 70bp-71bp over by yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.