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Joe Hegener, managing director and global head of non-investment grade credit derivatives and collateralized debt obligation business at TD Securities in New York, has been promoted to head investment banking and securities in the U.S. His promotion is part of an ongoing integration project by the firm that entails joining its products groups with its corporate financing business, Hegener said. Hegener has replaced Gordon Paris, who left the firm last month, according to a company official, who declined further comment. Hegener reports to John MacIntyre, global head of investment banking and Mike MacBain, head of global debt capital markets.

Deutsche Bank plans to hire up to five new structurers and sales professionals for its London-based structured products group as the current volatile global equity markets fuels demand for equity-linked notes. Johan Groothaert, managing director and head of equity structured products and alternative investments in London, said the bank currently has a team of roughly 50 staffers in the structured products group and is overstretched. He added he is looking to add the personnel in the new year.

Singapore-based OCBC Bank plans to offer equity derivatives, credit derivatives and exotic interest-rate and currency derivatives for the first time next year. The bank currently offers plain-vanilla foreign exchange and interest-rate derivatives. Yap Tsok Kee, v.p. of global treasury, said the bank will look to offer and trade the products within six months, after it has dealt with the time consuming integration of Keppel Capital Holdings.

Aanders Haagen, formerly v.p. of structured credit products at Bank of America in Hong Kong, is joining ABN AMRO in Singapore, according to a market official familiar with the move. He is expected to start in two weeks. Haagen did not return calls.

Sydney-based hedge fund Basis Capital is considering entering an asset swap in the coming months as part of a convertible bond arbitrage strategy on Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing. The corporate is trading at around 650 basis points over the swap curve, according to Steve Howell, cio in Sydney. He added that he expects the converts to tighten to around 500bps in the coming months. Howell attributes the temporary widening to part of a general credit spread widening since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. It will likely enter the trade within three to six months if credit quality stabilizes and the credit risk premium narrows.

ABN AMRO has hired Wing Hong Chan, v.p. in the corporate advisory group at J.P. Morgan in Hong Kong, as v.p. of derivatives marketing for the financial markets group at ABN in Hong Kong. Chan will handle derivatives marketing for Hong Kong and China, according to Bruce Shu, spokesman at ABN in Hong Kong. Chan reports to Greg Major, senior v.p. and head of Asia Pacific derivatives marketing at ABN in Singapore.

AXA Investment Managers is planning to offer an Asian absolute return and a statistical arbitrage hedge fund in the first half of next year to institutional investors. Both funds will be able to use over-the-counter derivatives and the firm expects to raise approximately USD500 million for each strategy over the next three years, according to Joanna Munro, global head of business development and fixed income and structured asset management in London.

BNP Paribas is suggesting Taiwanese corporates with U.S. dollar exposure buy three-month at-the-money U.S. dollar calls/Taiwan dollar puts because it anticipates an easing in monetary policy and increase in volatility caused by a weakening Taiwan dollar. Thio Chin Loo, currency analyst at BNP in Singapore, said, "We expect the engineering of weaker exchange rates [after the election]." She continued that after a general parliamentary election in early December the central bank will probably allow the Taiwan dollar to fall by TWD.50 to TWD35. The bank currently keeps the Taiwan dollar around TWD34.5.