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Alliance Capital Management has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a mutual fund that will invest 80% of its net assets fund in U.S. corporate bonds.

The recent headlines have left no doubt that merger and acquisition activity will be changing the corporate landscape in 2004 to an even greater degree than many had expected.

European issuers of mortgage-related collateral will likely begin to target the U.S. investor base this year, according to panelists who discussed the European structured finance market.

Mark Adelson, director and head of structured finance research at Nomura Securities International, noting that non-disclosure in the asset-backed securities market is widespread.

Credit-default swap spreads on Finmeccanica, an Italian defense and aerospace company, widened 20 basis points to 98 over on Monday, up from 78 over the week before.

Lehman Brothers is planning to introduce a floating-rate component to its widely followed asset-backed index later this year, according to David Heike, senior v.p. and head of the asset-backed strategy group, who spoke on a panel of research analysts.

Moody's Investors Service has started an asset-backed servicer ratings group and is planning to release its first rating, on a credit card issuer, later this month, according to Jay Eisbruck, a managing director in term ABS ratings.

Loomis, Sayles & Co. plans to add to its non-dollar fixed-income holdings on the view that spreads on U.S. securities are too narrow and the potential for currency appreciation makes foreign bonds a better buy.

Morgan Stanley has hired back Michael Dillon as a corporate bond salesman. Dillon had left the firm roughly six months ago to take a trading position at Goldman Sachs.

The new issue calendar remained heavy last week. After a large Qwest Communications offering was placed at the end of the month, market professionals say there are rumblings of more high-risk names coming to market to refinance their outstanding debt, although none had been announced as of the end of the week.

After weeks of denying it was about to execute a capital increase, Invensys, the UK production technology group, this week launched a £2.7bn recapitalisation package designed to solve its liquidity problems and save it from forced asset sales.