COMPANIES have until August 24 to register for the second Pounds 1 billion sale of student loan debt. There has been considerable interest, says N. M. Rothschild & Sons, which is handling the sale for the Department for Education and Employment. The government is selling only the amounts owed by students under the old loan scheme. Finance for Higher Education Ltd, formed by Greenwich NatWest, a division of the NatWest Bank, bought the first tranche of debt for Pounds 1.02 billion in March. It may also bid for the second tranche. It is thought that the DFEE will have to pay a Pounds 15 million debt-servicing subsidy to Finance for Higher Education Ltd as part of the first sale.