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Standard & Poor's is planning to launch equity indices on China's domestic A share market and will license firms to structure derivatives references to the instruments.

Olivier Vigneron, exotic options trader at Deutsche Bank in London, commenting on the future prospects for credit derivatives with a re-settable spread.

TD Securities has hired Michele Bang, former North Asian head of marketing at CIBC World Markets in Hong Kong, for a new cross-asset class derivatives marketing role in Tokyo.

Archeus Capital, a U.S.-based global macro hedge fund manager that has garnered over USD1 billion in assets since its launch in May, has hired Scott Balkan, a credit derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley. Gary Kilberg, ceo in New York, confirmed the hire.

Victus Capital, which recently opened its USD175 million multi-strategy hedge fund to new capital, plans to enter over-the-counter equity and credit derivatives to hedge its portfolio.

Barra Inc., a financial analytics company, is rolling out a risk management model that allows investors to red-flag names that are under and over-valued and identify which credits are experiencing an increasing risk of default.

Baring Asset Management is increasing its allocation to highly rated credits because riskier bonds aren't offering enough yield.

The price of credit protection on Adecco, a Swiss recruitment firm, leapt to 325 basis points on Monday from 45 over the previous week.

Big, mean and agitated ... One Enron Corp. investor, noting the atmosphere in the court room during the hearing to approve the company's disclosure statement, said the judge was like King Kong on top of the Empire State Building, swatting down all the objections.

Collateralized debt obligation professionals are at odds over the patentability of new structures and vehicles, with collateral managers, originators, analysts and lawyers all sounding off.

Mesirow Financial is looking to sell up to $125 million in investment-grade corporate bonds and swap the proceeds into short-term mortgage-backed securities.

A co-head of the commercial mortgage-backed securities group at Bear Stearns has resigned from the firm and plans to start a hedge fund.