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The changing nature of the retail investor Retail investors have traditionally been the mainstay of the Euromarkets. For issuers, selling bonds to continental retail -- whether to generate spread tightening or to tap arbitrage in higher yielding markets -- has long been a key element of funding strategies. In recent years, the nature of retail has undergone some fundamental changes. Falling returns in traditional retail markets -- such as higher yielding western European currencies and the dollar bloc -- means they are now being challenged by a new breed of even higher yielding currencies such as the South African rand and the Czech koruna. The extent of the change means that even these markets -- only three years old -- are no longer considered exotic. The more daring investor might now buy Israeli shekel or Turkish lira bonds, for example. Taken together with the increasing mutualisation of retail investment, these new niche currency sectors are increasingly dominated by a handful of firms. Euan Hagger reports.

SWISS Bank Corporation this week executed the first public securitisation of Swiss assets, as it parcelled Sfr250m of its own mortgages. The deal is the first of what the bank hopes will be a regular programme.

CITIBANK this week issued the largest securitisation of US credit card receivables yet seen in the French franc market, with a Ffr4bn deal maturing in January 2009. Joint bookrunners Citicorp and JP Morgan priced the bond at 99.21 with a coupon of 5.125% to yield 28bp over the OAT curve.

* Meridian Funding Co, the 'grey box' vehicle set up by CapMAC and now guaranteed by MBIA, issued its second deal this week, a $350m 10 year Eurobond lead by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Like its sister vehicle Polaris, Meridian issues bonds backed by undisclosed investment grade assets, with a triple-A guarantee from the monoline.

JOINT bookrunners Lehman Brothers and Paribas are set to launch the first public securitisation of Italian mortgages in the second week of June. The floating rate transaction, for Banca del Salento, a commercial bank based in Apulia, will likely offer Lit296m of senior notes rated triple-A by Moody's and Fitch IBCA and a Lit73m class 'B', rated A2/A.

BANKERS Trust is preparing to launch the first euro denominated securitisation, for Swiss freight car leasing company Ahaus Alstätter Eisenbahn. BT will sole manage the Eu255m deal, known as Euro Freight Car Finance Series 1998-1, on June 18. The transaction parcels leases on 5,336 standard freight cars. It will be the first securitisation of freight rolling stock in Europe, and the first ever securitisation of railcars located in more than one country.

COMPTOIR des Entrepreneurs, the French non-bank finance company controlled by Assurance Générale de France, raised Ffr1bn in the French domestic market this week through its triple-A rated securitisation vehicle Vauban Mobilisations Garanties. Like Vauban's four earlier issues since November 1997, this deal is backed by loans to private homebuyers in France. The transaction brings Vauban's outstanding debt to Ffr5.7bn, and with a bullet maturity in April 2006, the deal is the vehicle's longest dated so far.

A perennial problem in software development is how to access common algorithms--analytical models for derivative pricing and risk management sensitivities--when working on different systems without re-inventing the wheel every time.

THE PEOPLE'S Republic of China looks increasingly likely to make a return to the international debt markets, with country specialists anticipating a new sovereign benchmark as early as July. Although the Chinese government could undermine its immunity to the regional crisis by bringing a transaction to market while Asian spreads remain volatile, most observers believe the government is keen to pave the way for a string of borrowings by the country's three state owned policy banks.

THE REGIONAL turmoil in Asia led to a mixed week for Hong Kong's equity markets. A block trade for Smartone was seemingly unaffected by the troubles, but a number of small equity offerings were either delayed or struggled to completion. Meanwhile, First Pacific twice took advantage of the depressed market to buy back its convertible bonds at a discount to their face value.

INTERNATIONAL roadshows for Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production (PTTE&P) begin on Monday in a deal which bankers expect to follow the successful pattern of recent offerings from Thai Farmers Bank and Bangkok Bank and could raise up to $300m. CSFB, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers are joint global co-ordinators, while Phatra Securities and Thai Investment and Securities will act as joint domestic co-ordinators for the sale, which will price on June 9.

JIM FRANCE, head of ING Barings' Asian securitisation group, has resigned, and is expected to be hired by another investment bank in Asia. The move follows ING's retrenchment of its Asian operations in response to the economic downturn in the region. France's group had been one of the largest securitisation teams in non-Japan Asia, with 11 staff at its peak, based in South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore as well as Hong Kong.