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INVESTORS in North America and Europe this week leapt at the chance to gain exposure to a high quality portfolio of aeroplanes, as GE Capital Aviation Services launched a $1.208bn securitisation of operating leases on 36 aircraft. "What a great deal this was," said a syndicate official at Lehman Brothers in New York, which was lead managing its first aircraft securitisation. "The bonds were two or three times oversubscribed, with global distribution to a very wide range of investors in the US and across Europe -- money managers, insurance companies and pension funds."

Liquid European option prices are readily available in all markets for a wide range of strike prices and maturities.

THE CHINA Development Bank (CDB) has decided to seize a window of opportunity to set a new dollar benchmark for the People's Republic, and plans to begin roadshows for a new global bond in Hong Kong on May 3. With secondary market spreads for benchmark Chinese and Hong Kong borrowers moving below the 200bp mark for the first time in over a year CDB -- formerly know as the State Development Bank -- believes that it is in a strong position to capitalise on more positive sentiment towards the country.

THE CONVERTIBLE bond market in Asia suffered a setback this week when a $100m issue for China Merchants Holdings was reduced to just $60m. China Merchants is the third successive convertible from Asia this year to be scaled back, following the DBS Bank exchangeable and Delta Electronics issue during the first quarter.

* The formal announcement of the syndicate composition for the forthcoming global bond by the Federation of Malaysia could be made as soon as next week, said a banker. The Baa3/BBB- rated credit is considering three joint bookrunners, with its financial adviser Salomon Smith Barney already assured of one slot.

JARDINE Fleming completed a successful $74m placement of new Keppel Corp shares on Wednesday but investors, puzzled by the industrial conglomerate's new acquisition, added to a sell-off the following day driven mainly by short sellers. A total of 25.3m shares were sold at S$4.9728, a 2.5% discount to Wednesday's close. Shares closed down 8.63% at S$4.66 yesterday (Thursday) on record volume against a flat market.

MERRILL Lynch and Hyundai Securities gave another boost to Korea's sharp recovery in the capital markets at the end of last week when they completed the $400m GDR offering for Shinhan Bank. The focus of the Korea turnaround story will now turn to Korea Telecom, which is readying its $1bn-plus IPO for imminent launch via Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

AUSTRALIAN non-bank mortgage lender RAMS Home Loans Pty Ltd returned to the Euromarkets this week with a $500m securitisation, lead managed by JP Morgan. RAMS made its international debut last September with a $400m deal just after the Russian default. JP Morgan had to reduce the issue from $450m, but still managed to price the senior bonds at 14bp and 17bp over three month Libor with average lives of 2.7 and 5.3 years.

ACTIVITY appears to be picking up in the Australian equity markets following a slow first quarter, as the global mania for internet-related stocks is helping to fuel a rising ASX and privatisation activity continues in some states. Merrill Lynch is believed to have been appointed lead manager for the forthcoming A$200m-A$250m IPO of PBL Online -- this week renamed ecorp.

THE KOREAN Development Bank (KDB) returned to the international debt markets after an absence of 18 months yesterday (Thursday) when it launched a $1bn global bond -- the success of which is already being seen as a potent symbol of the renewed fervour with which investors are now approaching Asian credits. Compared to its last aborted attempt to raise funds in December 1997 at the height of the Korean liquidity crisis, the Baa3/BBB- KDB could not have picked a more auspicious moment to launch its five year deal this time round.

FUNDING officials from the City of Prague this week mandated ABN Amro and Deutsche Bank as joint bookrunners on the Czech capital's first euro issue. The probable Eu200m 10 year offering is to be launched towards the end of May. Unofficial price talk on the issue is 90bp over Euribor, equivalent to 125bp-130bp over Bunds. Before the bond issue Prague is looking to put in place a Eu100m club-style bridge loan by the end of April.

South Africa Nedcor Bank is close to awarding a mandate to arrange a $100m credit facility.