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BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

ABN AMRO is structuring a EUR5.6 billion synthetic securitization of its counterparty risk from derivatives trades. The firm is pitching the product to its banking clients, says Jacques Straetmans, director. Other banks, including Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, are considering similar trades, according to firm officials (DW, 5/25). So far, UBS is the only investment bank that has executed such a trade in Europe, via its Alpine structure.

REFCO has hired Pierre Maliczak, former head of the fund derivatives business at Bank of America in London, as the European head of sales for its alternative investments group. He will report to David Henritze, president of REFCO Alternative Investments in New York.

Macquarie Bank is considering offering in the coming months leveraged contracts for difference in the Australian market for its retail client base. "We're evaluating this closely at the moment," said Greg MacKay, head of equity derivatives at Macquarie in Sydney. MacKay explained that the CFDs, which provide the economic benefits of underlying stocks, have been popular in the U.K. and were introduced in the Australian market last year. "It's still relatively new in Australia," he added, noting that it has taken several months of educating clients for the product to gain interest down under.

In recent years the financial industry has evolved significantly with the creation of new products, formulation of trading strategies, development of theoretical tools and growing sophistication of customers. Accordingly control functions such as internal audit have evolved to keep pace. One of the outcomes is the emergence of a new function of risk analysts within internal audit.

Douglas Muller, corporate derivatives marketer at Lehman Brothers, has joined Banc of America Securities as a principal in fixed income derivatives origination. Muller, who declined comment, reports to Marc Katz, managing director and head of fixed income derivatives origination for corporate and investment banking clients in Chicago, according to Jeff Hershberger, spokesman in New York. Katz referred comment to Hershberger.