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Market commentary Compiled by Glenn Blackley, RBC DS Global Markets, London. Tel: +44 171-653 4557

HFC BANK, the UK subsidiary of Household Finance Corporation of the US, launched its fourth securitisation of consumer loans last Friday -- a £150m deal lead managed by Barclays Capital. "We are very pleased with the deal," said Piers Williamson, HFC's treasurer. "This is the first securitisation from a UK repeat issuer since spreads really backed up, and Barclays has done an efficient job of pushing the bonds out.

ING BARINGS-BBL this week launched a Dfl 175m tap of its Colonnade structure, which finances local social housing institutions in the Netherlands. ING created the vehicle to provide an alternative source of funding for the country's 800 building societies, which are privately owned but state regulated providers of social housing, similar to the UK's housing associations.

BACOB Bank launched a Bfr11bn residential mortgage securitisation this week -- the Belgian bank's fourth securitisation of the asset class. MBS-4's three senior tranches came around 3bp, 5bp and 7bp wider than their equivalents in Bacob's previous deal in May, but those levels were still tight compared to most US and European asset backed paper.

* US lender Countrywide reopened the home equity securitisation sector this week after a drought of nearly two months with a $156m home equity line of credit securitisation through Countrywide Home Equity Loan Trust 1998-D. Wrapped by triple-A rated monoline insurer Ambac, the deal's single tranche has an average life of 3.51 years and expected maturity in November 2005.

What is exposure? It is one of the buzzwords of modern risk management, but in fact the word is used to describe a number of different variables.

AUSTRALIAN insurance giant AMP launched its first sterling bond in over eight years this week, in the inaugural transaction off its newly signed $4bn MTN programme. Led by Warburg Dillon Read, the £160m 12 year deal marked a milestone for the group, which despite an asset base weighted to the UK, is relatively unknown to the sterling bond buying community.

A SIX day Hang Seng rally and the inclusion of red chips in the IFC emerging markets index paved the way for around $420m in placements in Hong Kong this week. China Merchants Holdings (CMHI) opened the market and the week's largest trade, for Shanghai Industrial Holdings (SIH), effectively closed it. In between the two deals, placements were completed for Café de Coral, China Aerospace, Guangnan Holdings and Guangzhou Investment (GZI). Yesterday (Thursday), Citic Ka Wah Bank was also added to the list of placements. One banker described the week as "a feeding frenzy".

THE FIRST major public bond offering by one of Singapore's statutory boards is being primed for launch over the next three weeks, with the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) set to launch a S$300m ($185m) seven year deal. The issue marks a major new stage in the Singapore government's programme to craft the island state into the region's major financial centre outside Japan. Having recently extended its own yield curve out to 10 years for the first time, the government hopes that a continuous programme of issues by the wholly owned statutory boards will give the domestic bond market much needed vibrancy and depth.

KOREA Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) has become the first Korean corporate issuer to bring a new deal to the dollar market since the republic's groundbreaking $4bn global in April. In the form of a $100m one year FRN, and led by Credit Suisse First Boston, the issue was priced yesterday (Thursday) at 425bp over Libor, the more aggressive end of a 425bp to 450bp range.

CONFIDENCE in a rebound in the Latin new issue market received another boost this week when Argentina launched a $300m reopening of its 2006 global bond and a Sfr100m five year deal. The $300m issue, led by Chase, was launched at a price of 98.28bp, about a point below market levels at the time of pricing. Its launch spread was around 660bp, representing about a 20bp concession to secondary levels.

* The European Investment Bank is close to finalising details on a Ck30bn domestic issuance programme for the Czech Republic. The debt issuance facility is the second of its type to be established by the EIB in central and eastern Europe. In May the triple-A rated supranational launched the first transaction off an ING Barings-arranged Huf20bn ($100m) programme.