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WestLB has hired Makoto Kurokawa, v.p. in financial products marketing at RBC Capital Markets in Tokyo, as head of fixed income distribution.

Several synthetic asset-backed collateralized debt obligations referencing other ABS CDOs are in the market, signaling that liquidity for credit-default swaps on ABS CDOs has reached a critical mass.

Wall Street this week reaped the rewards of its exhaustive efforts this year to build a thriving US hybrid capital market, when five issuers raised up to $3.3bn without so much as a bump on the road.

The French house is offering a leveraged credit portfolio with an AAA-rated coupon which it is pitching as an improvement on constant proportion debt obligations.

WestLB has hired Makoto Kurokawa, v.p. in financial products marketing at RBC Capital Markets in Tokyo, as head of fixed income distribution. He will remain in Tokyo for the role. Kurokawa cited the promotion opportunity as the main reason for the move, although he also noted that he believed WestLB was a strong global franchise with a commitment to Japan. It could not immediately be determined if this is a new role for WestLB.

Risk management plays a crucial role in upholding the stability of the financial system, and hence the accuracy with which risk is managed.

Scotia Capital has tapped a former Merrill Lynch trader to help build a global equity derivatives business.

The increasing numbers of collateralized loan and debt obligations lending to issuers is leading to more trading volatility in the debt of these companies when they fall into distress, said panelists speaking at the Distressed Debt Investing Forum.

--Jayme Wiggins, portfolio manager at Intrepid Capital Management, referring to an easy credit market keeping companies afloat.

Jacksonville Beach, Fla.-based Intrepid Capital Management recently has looked at the debt of a number of companies with low leverage and short maturities--including Blount and Cott Beverage.

It seems like the whole market took it upon themselves to have a Happy Thanksgiving Week, as opposed to just a mere day of gluttonous consumption.

The Goldman Sachs-led $295 million debtor-in-possession financing for EaglePicher was reworked and pricing on the first-lien term loan and second lien was flexed up 50 and 100 basis points, respectively.