Freddie Mac, the US mortgage refinancing agency, may expand its new subordinated debt programme into Europe as part of a drive to improve capital adequacy and transparency.

The dollar Subordinated Debt Securities (SUBS) programme, which will be inaugurated in the US in the first quarter if 2001, is the latest in a series of initiatives that include the €20bn ($18.3bn) EuroReference Note programme. Freddie Mac has already issued €10bn in five and 10-year bonds and they are among the most liquid on EuroMTS, the electronic inter-dealer trading platform for European government bonds.