By Sarka Halas The European Financial Stability Facility, or EFSF, has planned to issue three billion euros ($3.7 billion) of 10-year bonds, one of the banks running the deal said Tuesday. Citigroup, HSBC and JP Morgan are the banks running the transaction, which is expected to be launched and priced in the near future, subject to market conditions. The EFSF was last in the market on July 10 with a massive EUR6 billion bond, it was the euro-zone bailout fund's largest deal yet. The EFSF's bonds can be used to fund the various bailout projects in the euro zone, including the rescue plan for Spanish banks and the requested aid for Cyprus. It has already has raised funding for Greece, Ireland and Portugal, to which it passes on the more affordable interest rate it obtains due to its guarantees from euro-zone countries. The EFSF is rated triple-A by both Moody's Investors Service Inc. and Fitch Ratings, and AA+ by Standard & Poor's Corp. (Art Patnaude in London contributed to this report.) Write to Sarka Halas at sarka.halasova@dowjones.com
