Belgium sold a 15-year OLO last month but rather than hit its customary size of €5 billion settled for a €4 billion trade via Calyon, Citigroup, Fortis and Goldman Sachs. This was despite having a €8.5 billion order book. The fact that the sovereign sensibly decided not to overallocate hedge funds in what was a choppy market was less newsworthy than the fact that it had given Citigroup a mandate. It has been a long two years since Citi was last given such an honour, a severe punishment for testing the core EU sovereign debt managers’ patience with its now notorious deal on MTS.