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DEUTSCHE Bank and Goldman Sachs are now set to join JP Morgan and Warburg Dillon Read as lead managers on the Republic of the Philippines' $500m equivalent euro transaction, heightening doubts over the deal's eventual fate. Although the seven to 10 year transaction was always likely to prove a tough sell among an investor base unfamiliar with the BB+/Ba1 rated credit, bankers argued that the inclusion of four lead managers is a recipe for confusion and disaster.

ACTIVITY in the floating rate note market surged this week as financial issuers sought to tap a level of liquidity among banks and money market funds which one banker described as "quite staggering". The change in sentiment in the FRN markets -- apparent across the main currency sectors, in dollars, euros and sterling -- is more surprising still given the lack of primary market activity for much of 1998, especially after the Russian financial crisis brought about a state of near paralysis in floating rate product.

GOLDMAN SACHS and JP Morgan have been mandated to act as global co-ordinators for the sale of stock in Debitel, the largest mobile telecoms provider in Germany. The group is 46% owned by German retail giant Metro, 52% by DaimlerChrysler subsidiary Debis and 2% by Electronic Partners. Metro and Debis should raise between $500m and $1bn.

GOLDMAN Sachs is to launch the sale of stock in United Pan Communications (UPC), Europe's biggest provider of private cable television services. The flotation will raise around $650m, ranking as one of the largest of this year's deals to be hosted by the Amsterdam stock exchange. The market is expecting a wide range of small to mid-cap deals from a variety of sectors, with UK investors particularly keen on rebalancing portfolios in favour of some of the sectors on offer.

* Bremer Landesbank Capital Markets plc Guarantor: Bremer Landesbank Kreditanstalt Oldenburg Girozentrale

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THANK YOU for all the calls saying that we should be awarded a golden lollipop for our story a fortnight ago saying that a palace revolution was taking place at Goldman Sachs. Before you could say, "Bring back Bob Rubin soonest", Jon Corzine had been sidelined in a nice office in the basement. The immediate effect on the stockmarket following Jon's fall from grace was a sharp decline in the value of hair restorer shares in a company which had considered using the great man's 'curate's egg' look in a nationwide advertising campaign.

AN EASING of investor concerns over the economic situation in Brazil -- for the time being at least -- looks set to smooth the Eurobond funding path for central and eastern European sovereign borrowers. By Thursday's close in London, JP Morgan's Emerging Market Bond Index had tightened to 1,300bp over Treasuries from nearly 1,500bp a week ago, reflecting the gradual improvement in investor sentiment.