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THE PROVINCE of Buenos Aires has delayed plans to come to the lira market via JP Morgan in favour of a $100m equivalent euro issue at a better all in cost, to be led by Chase Manhattan. Angel Cabral, director of public credit for the province, said the deal would be launched in the next few weeks and will be four to six years in maturity.

ANDES DEVELOPMENT bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) plans to launch another two bond issues in the international markets this year totalling $200m to $250m. CAF chief financial officer Hugo Sarmiento, told delegates at the Euromoney borrowers and investors conference in London that the Yankee and the euro denominated bond markets would be the obvious targets. "We will again look at the Yankee market as well as the euro market," he said. "We will either choose another local (European) currency or we may decide to issue in euro."

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The overhaul of the Korean corporate and financial sectors that is starting to gather pace promises to be brutal and bloody. And it will involve many high-profile casualties. But only drastic action can put the country back on its feet after the traumatic events of the past year and rebuild international confidence. President Kim Dae-Jung's radical reform programme will trigger a complete restructuring of the corporate and financial systems. What the government hopes will evolve is a dynamic new economic model for Korea. But it will come at a high price and it will not be achieved without strong opposition. As this sea change sweeps through Korea, the opportunities for foreign commercial bankers, investment banks and corporate, venture capital and portfolio investors will be enormous. But the risks are high. Mark B Johnson reports on a country on the brink of an explosion of corporate bankruptcies and, if the government's radical reforms are derailed, a country on the brink of financial meltdown.

* ABN Amro Bank NV Rating: Aa2

THE DOLLAR markets remained closed to all but a handful of issuers for another week, as bearish spread sentiment combined with concerns about the effect of the tumbling yen on the financial crisis in Asia. In a sign of how distracted the markets have become, some bankers even suggested that the World Cup has contributed to the moribund state.

CREDIT Suisse First Boston's Ffr800m securitisation of revenues generated by the Stade de France, the new stadium built to host the World Cup final, is structurally ready -- the lead is believed to be waiting only for the French government to approve the deal. The 15 year bullet issue will be guaranteed by triple-A rated Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), and is backed by a loan from CSFB to the Consortium du Stade de France, which built the 80,000 seat stadium and will operate it for 30 years.

MORGAN Stanley Dean Witter this week launched the second ever bond to finance construction of a UK hospital under the private finance initiative (PFI). The £136m 30 year deal, guaranteed by AMBAC Insurance UK, will pay for a new building for Law Hospital in Wishaw near Glasgow. "When we started working on PFI projects three or four years ago, people were sceptical that you could finance them in the capital markets," said Peter Cane, a vice president at MBIA AMBAC International. "But the UK pension and life insurance companies which bought this deal are the natural investors for this kind of project -- they want long dated fixed rate assets to match their liabilities.

JOINT bookrunners Bacob, BBL and Bear Stearns will next week launch the first grouped securitisation for local social housing lenders in Belgium. Special purpose vehicle Belsca will issue Bfr7.785bn of FRNs backed by mortgages originated by 13 sociétés de crédit agréés (SCAs) in the Walloon region of Belgium. SCAs are local, privately owned mortgage lenders, which provide loans to first time homeowners under a framework of regulation. The transaction has the largest number of sellers included in any non-US securitisation. There are 75 SCAs altogether, so the lead managers intend to bring further deals for other institutions.

BANKERS Trust this week sold the first securitisation denominated in euros, with a Eu255m deal for Swiss railcar leasing company Ahaus Alstätter Eisenbahn. The transaction parcels leases on 5,336 standard freight cars -- this was also the first securitisation of freight rolling stock in Europe, and the first ever securitisation of railcars located in more than one country. "It was a very complex deal, and we are delighted that we could put together something that satisfied investors and AAE so well," said Nicole Downer, a senior associate in BT's international securitisation group. "The client replaced its bank debt on the cars with longer term finance at a much higher loan to value ratio and a much lower cost of funds."