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MERRILL LYNCH roadshowed a new asset class in London and Milan this week -- film library revenues. The bank will likely sole manage a Lit450bn bond the week beginning February 23 for Italian media group Cecchi Gori, backed by earnings from a library of 1,200 films. The portfolio comprises both Italian films to which Cecchi Gori has rights, including many which it produced, and international films which Cecchi Gori has the exclusive right to distribute in Italy.

* DKB International, the London investment banking arm of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, will likely launch its first asset backed bond on February 23. Oscar Funding Corp is a securitisation of Japanese auto loans originated by Orient Corporation, the country's second largest independent consumer credit company. The deal will probably total $300m, and will mature through a 5% clean up call on March 10, 2003, with an expected average life of 1.8 years.

* CSFB will next week sole manage the first CLO backed by project finance loans. Project Funding Corp 1 will offer $617m of three month Libor floaters in five classes. The senior tranche, rated triple-A, will comprise 87% of the deal.

SALOMON Smith Barney brought its most successful student loan deal yet with $923.47m of floating and fixed rate notes for the Student Loan Finance Corporation. Since its formation late in 1997 the house has cornered the market in European targeted student loan securitisations -- Smith Barney had a leading position in the US domestic student loan market, while Salomon Brothers brought its placement power with European Libor-based investors.

SOCIÉTÉ Générale this week issued the second repackaging of Australian mortgage backed securities from its HOMES MTN programme in a search for ever better arbitrage. Home Owner Mortgage Enhanced Securities Ltd Series 98 came in two tranches, rated triple-A by Standard & Poor's in line with the underlying collateral. Both are callable at one year with a step up coupon to reassure investors of the soft bullet maturity.

THE £343m private placement for Capital and Income Group (CIT), reported in EW 358, has put securitisation on the London map -- literally. The second largest commercial property securitisation in Europe after 1997's Canary Wharf deal, the UBS-arranged transaction is backed by six landmark office buildings in central London. These include Sea Containers House, rented by the UK Customs and Excise and Sea Containers; Farringdon Court, occupied by Merrill Lynch, and British Telecom's headquarters at 120 High Holborn.

In a previous learning curve (DW, 1/5), we introduced a notion of convexity cost in the option adjusted valuation.

NOMURA SECURITIES and Merrill Lynch this week launched Toyota Motor Corp's first public bond offering in Japan, raising ¥200bn ($1.6bn) in 15 minutes, and buoying hopes of a revitalised domestic bond market. Toyota's turn toward financing at home coincides with a revival in Japan's straight bond market as banks continue to tighten their balance sheets before the BIS deadline at the end of the financial year on March 31.

THAILAND'S PTT Exploration and Production is on the starting blocks for a 31m share selldown which could raise up to Bt17bn, after the government selected five banks this week to run the process. Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse First Boston have been mandated as joint global co-ordinators, while Phatra Securities and Thai Investment and Securities will act as joint domestic co-ordinators.

JAPAN'S SECOND largest bank, Sumitomo Bank, has raised $1.8bn in tier one capital through the sale of non-cumulative per-petual preferred shares in a move to bolster its capital base and to protect it from currency risk. Lead managed by Goldman Sachs, the issue marks the first time that a Japanese bank has sold dollar denominated prefs through a US incorporated vehicle (Sumitomo Leasing and Finance).

BANKERS' HOPES of launching new equity issues from Pakistan are being frustrated by legislative and regulatory problems surrounding the privatisation programmes. Although Pakistan -- Asia's best performing stockmarket in 1997 -- offers investors stability at a time of turmoil in the region, privatisation offerings continue to be delayed.

DIFFICULT market conditions have prompted Philippine company Bayan Telecommunications Holdings Corporation (BayanTel) to execute a private placement of convertible preferred shares via Chase Manhattan, rather than face the public equity markets. The shares are redeemable at the end of five years, unless previously converted to common shares, and have a US dollar yield of 6.5% and a dividend yield of 2%. They are guaranteed by Benpres Holdings Corporation which, with its affiliates, owns 68.76% of BayanTel.