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CHASE Manhattan is set to launch the City of Moscow's debut Eurolira transaction on Tuesday. Under the Bank of Italy's queuing system for emerging market issuers, the Ba3/BB- rated transaction for the Russian capital was scheduled for launch this Wednesday or Thursday. Chase, however, has secured central bank permission to extend the issuance deadline to next week to give it more time to premarket the transaction.

LATE last Thursday an internal communication was issued to all project finance staff at UBS/SBC Warburg Dillon Read, outlining the strategy for the new bank's project finance activities. The communication was issued by Charles Zabriskie, global head of project finance in New York who was, according to a source at the bank, under the impression that the strategy had indeed been determined.

Once dominated by triple-A and double-A paper, the Euro-French franc sector is rapidly opening up to a wide range of corporate credits that - until recently - could not have dreamt of tapping the bond market.

Q: The defining features of all European currency bond markets in the last few months have been the low levels of interest rates and investors' attempts to lift their returns by yield-curve plays or by taking greater credit risk. How important do you expect those trends to be in the French franc capital markets for the rest of this year?

Deutsche Telekom is set to launch its long awaited debut Eurobond in two weeks, with a DM2bn deal that will set a benchmark for corporates in the Deutschmark sector, and then in the euro sector from January 1999. The telco will add further liquidity to the burgeoning corporate sector in core European currencies, the most notable recent examples being Telstra's DM2bn transaction and Allianz's Deutschmark and French franc parallel bond.

Czech Republic ING Barings has won the mandate to arrange the coveted Ck3.5bn ($105m) credit for the City of Prague. The award marks the end of a tough bidding process in which over 20 banks were involved.

WITH central and European credit risks at their highest for 18 months, loan syndication teams in commercial and investment banks are looking for more support and security.

ALTHOUGH THE CZECH REPUBLIC suffered a number of setbacks in 1997 - most notably the enforced devaluation of the Czech koruna at the end of May and severe flooding in June and July - Czech credits remain among the most popular in the international bond markets.

Argentina * Banco Mayo Cooperativo Limitado

THE PORTUGUESE privatisation programme moved up a gear this week when the government launched the sale of all but 10% of its stake in Cimpor, the cement producer floated last year by lead managers Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and BPI. The IPO was one of the most successful offerings from Portugal in 1997 and the two firms have been mandated for the new deal, which will be targeted at local and foreign investors. There will be a small tranche for domestic retail, who will be offered stock at a slight discount to institutions.

Outside events seemed to be diverting the attention of many market professionals towards the end of the week. The long weekend will tee off for many today (Friday) with holidays in most of Europe. It will give some the opportunity to ponder the outcome of the EU meeting at which members of the single currency will be confirmed and euro conversion rates will be set.

France's blue chips are rewriting the unwritten laws of how the country functions through a series of transactions to unwind long-standing relationships and dispose of peripheral assets.