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ING Barings has agreed to buy UBS's four asset backed commercial paper conduits for an undisclosed sum, in an unprecedented deal that simultaneously takes one of the leading European conduit banks out of the market, and catapults a relative minnow to the top of the table. UBS made plentiful and creative use of its conduits during the 1990s, but the business fell foul of the merger with SBC, which led to a radical rethink of the bank's investment banking activities. In January this year Warburg Dillon Read's outgoing chief executive Hans de Gier told investors that the balance sheet intensive ABCP business was now "non-core". UBS announced the sale of its conduits in the spring.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter this week sold its third securitisation of Italian non-performing mortgages, still without a full public launch but with more publicity than the first two transactions. The deal is backed by 799 loans that Morgan Stanley acquired from Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna in December 1998, and a single asset the bank bought from Istituto Italiano di Credito Fondiario in June this year.

Spanish airline Iberia will shortly bring a new asset class to the European structured finance market - the enhanced equipment trust certificate. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, which pioneered EETCs in the US, has structured the Eu195m transaction, but will not be leading the deal - another bank won the underwriting mandate in a competitive auction.

n Deutsche Bank reinforced its hegemony in the Portuguese ABS market this week, introducing yet another new issuer - Interbanco, a specialist car finance bank owned by the SGC SGPS group. Silk Finance Ltd issued Eu101.2m of bonds in two tranches, rated AAA and A by Fitch IBCA and Standard & Poor's. Class 'A', worth Eu92.1m, priced at 35bp over three month Euribor with a 4.5 year average life, while the Eu9.1m of 'B' notes came at 75bp over with an average life of 6.9 years. Price talk last week had been 32bp area and 70bp area.

Citibank fulfilled months of eager expectation by issuing its first credit card securitisation in euros this week. Bookrunner Salomon Smith Barney and joint leads CDC Marchés and WestLB launched Eu1bn of five year fixed rate bonds in a bid to set a European benchmark for the US issuer's credit.

Barclays Capital took whole business securitisation into a new sector this week, launching £135m of bonds for Wightlink Ltd, which operates three ferry routes from the south coast of England to the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight routes are unusual among ferry services, in that the island is too small and too close to the mainland to attract scheduled air services, while building a bridge or tunnel is viewed as uneconomic, and is opposed by local residents.

The measurement of operational risk (OR) earned considerable attention in the wake of huge losses at investment banks such as Barings and Sumitomo.

Manila Electric (Meralco) will begin roadshows for a debut international bond offering in Singapore next Tuesday, pre-marketing a 10 year fixed rate transaction. Contrary to most expectations, the group has maintained an ambitious launch schedule, selecting its lead managers, overhauling its mortgage trust indenture (MTI) and securing ratings within the space of just two months.

Salomon Smith Barney scored a success with Neptune Orient Lines this week when the equity component of the deal was increased to $500m, removing the need for the more costly preferred share offering. The deal had originally been seen as proof that the combined SSB-Citibank had an edge in gaining broad fundraising deals, with Citibank due to raise $200m through redeemable non-convertible preference shares and SSB $300m in equity.

n The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) has increased its debut Singapore dollar bond by a further S$50m. Salomon Smith Barney was lead manager of the increase for the outstanding S$150m five year deal, pricing the new line of paper at 99.471 with a 4.125% semi-annual coupon to give a 4.25% yield to maturity. The supranational's debut in March via Citicorp comprised two tranches of five and 10 year paper.

Malaysian oil company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) is seeking to take advantage of a lull in the Asian pipeline with the launch of its first benchmark dollar bond in almost three years. Roadshows for a $750m plus five to 10 year global bond begin next Monday in Tokyo under the lead of Credit Suisse First Boston, with Barclays Capital and Chase appointed as joint leads.

Société Générale this week launched the first securitisation of Australian mortgages denominated in euros, and succeeded in expanding the investor base for the asset class. The Eu175m offering repackaged one tranche of a simultaneous domestic MBS issue by Residential Mortgage Acceptance Corp Ltd. Resimac is a mortgage financing vehicle set up in 1995 by FANMAC.