Countrywide Securities has hired Mark Hill to trade shorter-maturity Treasuries, according to new government and agency trading chief Susan Estes. Hill, who joined from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in New York, was not available to comment and did not reply to an e-mail. Countrywide's chief, Ron Kripalani, has stated the firm's intention to have a full scale Treasury and sales trading operation in place by the end of the year (BW, 8/11). Hill started last Monday and will be responsible for trading all Treasury paper three-years and under at the firm's Calabasas, Calif., desk, working with senior trader Josh Holden, who will trade all bonds from three- to 30-years, according to Estes. The firm is in preliminary conversations with the Federal Reserve to be the 23rd primary dealer, but no formal application has been made, says Estes, who started in her job several weeks ago (BW, 9/15).