 The majority of investors are Japanese with US$9 billion worth of notes issued in 2003 and the issued notional increasing every year thereafter up until 2008 when it sharply declined.Major participants in the market include issuers (usually Supranationals) of the notes under their Euro Medium Term Note program.Also heavily involved are PRDC swap hedgers - the major ones include JPMorgan Chase, Nomura Securities Co., UBS Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Barclays Investment Bank, Credit Suisse, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.