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THE REPUBLIC of the Philippines has mandated JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to lead manage a global bond of up to $500m in what may be the first mainstream sovereign borrowing from Asia this year.

THE REPUBLIC of the Philippines has mandated JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to lead manage a global bond of up to $500m in what may be the first mainstream sovereign borrowing from Asia this year.

* Eurofima Rating: Aaa/AAA

Finland Postipankki and WestLB have closed syndication of the £200m three year standby L/C facility for Finnish Export Credit. Appetite was strong in retail, with 10 banks coming in taking $20m each, and an oversubscription was achieved. However, the borrower has opted not to increase the size of the facility.

THE PACE of Spanish privatisation is set to pick up again following the disclosure this week that the government intends to complete its $2bn sale of shares in tobacco producer Tabacalera by early May. At the end of last week a group of four global co-ordinators -- Merrill Lynch, Argentaria, BBV and BCH -- was mandated to run the deal, which will involve the disposal of the state's entire 52% stake.

JAPAN'S SONY Corp scored a stunning success this week with its first global bond issue, which overcame lacklustre demand for Asian credits so far this year when it finished several times oversubscribed.

THE MARKET for Latin corporate Eurobonds returned to life this week, after a four month lull, when Argentine conglomerate Sociedad Comercial del Plata placed $40m worth of two year securities in Europe. Led by Paribas, the deal was the first plain vanilla Eurobond from a Latin corporate since last October's market downturn. Although a handful of Latin banks have raised dollars in Europe and a couple of Mexican firms have accessed the US high yield market, until now corporates have been unwilling to pay up to come to Europe.

JAPAN'S SONY Corp scored a stunning success this week with its first global bond issue, which overcame lacklustre demand for Asian credits so far this year when it finished several times oversubscribed. At $1.5bn, the five year deal, lead managed by Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan, is the largest fixed rate global bond from a corporate issuer. It equals British Telecom's $1.5bn five year deal launched last year as the largest ever international corporate bond.

* World Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

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* Coca-Cola Enterprises Great Britain plc Guarantor: Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc

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