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THE Indian government looks set to announce a U-turn in privatisation policy which might push DR sales for Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), VSNL and Concor well into next year. Government officials told Euroweek that an announcement on the programme was imminent and did not deny that efforts might be re-focused towards strategic sales of stakes in smaller companies. Nalco, which has mandated Jardine Fleming; Modern Foods, which has mandated ANZ Grindlays; and ITDC which may have mandated HSBC, are likely immediate second tier targets for strategic sales by government.

The first major corporate debt refinancing from Indonesia was settled this week, with 32 banks coming to an agreement with PT Trakindo Utama, a local distributor for Caterpillar. Chase Manhattan led the talks on a restructuring of $171m in debt comprising two syndicated loans and a number of bilaterals. The provisional deal comprises an agreement whereby Trakindo will pay $81m immediately with further payments spread out over a period of three years at a price of 300bp over Sibor. The company also agreed to provide further guarantees in the form of collateral from its receivables and those of a Singapore-based subsidiary.

Thailand Standard & Poor's (S&P) assigned a new series of ratings downgrades across the Thai banking sector this week, cutting the long term foreign currency ratings of Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank and Bank of Ayudhya and the local currency rating of the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand (IFCT).

* Trustees for the international securitisations executed by Japan Leasing Corp, which filed for bankruptcy on September 27, are close to agreement with the preservation trustee appointed by the court to oversee the reorganisation of JLC on a plan to ensure the securitisations continue to perform. Bankers Trustee Co, which acts as bond trustee for the deals, is to announce details to noteholders shortly.

THE CHINESE government's abrupt closure this week of its second largest International Trust & Investment Corporation (Itic) and one of its 10 original international windows has been interpreted as a politically motivated but largely positive development in its efforts to clean up the republic's financial system. Asian bankers concluded that initial reports focusing on the implications of the Guangdong Itic's (Gitic) demise for the overall financial system have obscured the important political message the Chinese government was trying to put across.

THE NTT DoCoMo sale looks set to be a major success, despite the daunting scale of the $15bn IPO and massive pressure from the Nikkei following a 5.8% fall yesterday (Thursday) which was the largest drop in seven years. The sale of 545,000 shares led by Goldman Sachs and Nikko is due to be priced on Monday at around ¥3.6m, slightly below last week's expectations. Market turmoil has prompted investors to seek pricing in the lower half of the ¥3.3m to ¥4.3m range.

Australia The Queensland Government has appointed JB Were to lead manage the sale of its remaining 31% stake in Suncorp-Metway which provides banking and insurance services. Part of the offer will be in the form of 142.5m exchanging instalment receipts and part from a two-for-one rights offer. A total of A$1.012bn could be raised from the deal and 75% of the shares will be sold to the public.

POSCO has overtaken the float of Korea Telecom in the government's privatisation programme, mandating Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney and Dongwon Securities to lead manage the deal, due to be completed in November. Although final decisions about the scale of the transaction have yet to be taken, the issue will likely involve a 3.1% stake which could raise over $150m.

BRAZIL and the IMF yesterday (Thursday) looked to buy more time for themselves by making a joint statement to assure markets they would announce a multi-billion dollar package soon. Anxious not to end the annual IMF meeting without some formal response to talk of a $30bn IMF-instigated package for Brazil, the statement confirmed that the money was definitely there to back up the country's three year fiscal reform package, to be announced around October 20.

OIL BUSINESS Conoco has begun the marketing for its planned $3.3bn IPO which, if successful, would be the largest US flotation so far this year. The fate of the deal will be closely watched; after the lull in the IPO market last month, there are a number of new companies lining up for launch in the coming weeks, prepared to risk the difficult market.

ABN AMRO Rothschild and CDC Marches this week allocated the sale of stock in Caisse National de Prévoyance (CNP), the French insurer sold by the government. The $1bn deal is one of the few transactions from the financial sector to have braved recent market volatility. Stocks in this industry has been pounded as the implications and severity of the global financial crisis become clear.

LEAD managers Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and MeesPierson have been forced to postpone the planned Dfl 4bn capital increase for the Dutch bancassurance group, Fortis Amev. The leads were to have priced the shares on Monday but abandoned this aim after the issuer refused to sell its equity capital at the price the market offered. "This fate will befall many issuers if they feel that they can get a better valuation for their assets by waiting for the markets to establish some stability," says one banker in the Amsterdam market.