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* Abbey National Treasury Services plc Guarantor: Abbey National plc

TELEFONOS de Mexico (Telmex), Mexico's biggest telephone company, yesterday launched a $1bn five year convertible bond, the largest ever issued by a Latin American corporate, as an alternative to plans to tap the fixed income markets. The bonds, which can be converted for stock at $94.92 per ADR, were sold to refinance debt and fund expansion.

THE SALE of stock in Ireland's national telecommunications operator, Telecom Eireann, looks set to be an overwhelming success. Ireland's ministry of public enterprise and global co-ordinators AIB Capital Markets and Merrill Lynch are mid-way through the pre-marketing period and report a very positive response from retail and institutional investors.

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* Export-Import Bank of Japan Guarantor: Government of Japan

* Argentaria Global Finance Ltd Guarantor: Argentaria, Caja Postal y Banco Hipotecario

IN THE continued absence of new swap driven, dollar denominated bonds, swap spreads meandered this week. Interbank trading was erratic and illiquid. By Thursday, the 10 year swap mid-market level was around 79.5bp while the five year mid-market was about 65.5bp. These levels are fractionally softer than a week ago. The dollar new issue market has been largely uneventful for several weeks and the underlying tone is still far from propitious. While swap spreads were largely unchanged this week, secondary spreads in the US corporate market are about 4bp wider. This development further restricts arbitrage into floating rate funds for US names.

WEST BROMWICH Building Society is set to return to the loan market with a £250m credit, arranged by Barclays and Bayerische Landesbank. The five year deal has been launched to co-arrangers, with banks asked to commit £20m for a fee of 8bp. The margin is thought to be 17.5bp. Some £100m of the transaction refinances existing debt, with the balance being new money.

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FORD MOTOR Credit took the concept of benchmark corporate bond issuance to a new level this week when it announced a US agency style programme through which it will raise up to $10bn in 1999.

IT WAS A mixed week for new issues, and many new names found market conditions tough. Several new issues were held back and others were forced to revise terms downwards to stay on track. Not even internet stocks were immune to the mixed mood on Wall Street. Merrill Lynch delayed the flotation for Interliant which was originally expected last week. The company hosts a variety of sites on the internet, and is trying to raise funds to expand its business.

GLOBAL co-ordinators Goldman Sachs and ING Barings this week launched the public offer of stock in Libertel, the second largest mobile telecoms company in the Netherlands. The vendor is ING Groep, which is divesting a 22.5% stake in the company. The deal is expected to be well received by investors and will be one of the largest IPOs of the year, bringing much needed liquidity to the Amsterdam market. Dutch corporates have been unwilling to tap their market in the past few months, deterred by the underlying volatility.