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Los Angeles-based asset management firm Centre Pacific has shelved plans for a high-yield collateralized loan obligation (CLO) and is instead seeking to complete a synthetic investment-grade transaction. This will be the first time Centre Pacific has managed an investment-grade structured deal, but the conditions for issuing high-yield CLOs are not opportune, said David Gold, managing director of Centre Pacific. "Issuing the notes/equity is the difficult task in the current environment. Synthetic investment grade issuance is rapid and more certain today," he said. Centre Pacific will be looking for a lead bank in order to execute a transaction in the second quarter, he stated.

Deutsche Bank has hired a pair of credit derivatives traders in new positions in Tokyo and London. Attilio Pietranera, exotic credit derivatives trader at JPMorgan in London, has joined in a similar position, and Kwee-Tee Lim, exotic credit derivatives trader at UBS Warburg in London, has been hired as a correlation trader in Tokyo. Pietranera will report to Mark Stainton in London, Stainton said. Lim will also report to Stainton, but will report locally to Kazue Takagaki, senior correlation trader in Tokyo, and Aaron MacDougall, head of credit trading in Tokyo. Pietranera started in the past few weeks and Lim will join mid-April. Pietranera declined comment and Lim could not be reached. Takagaki referred calls to MacDougall. MacDougall confirmed the move, but declined further comment.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has hired Zach Tuckwell, head of European equity portfolio trading at Merrill Lynch, in a similar role in London, and expects to announce up to 10 additional hires in the group in New York, Tokyo and London. Dresdner is finding more demand for portfolio trading and is opportunistically building its presence, according to an official familiar with the plans. Tuckwell will report to Tim Clorite, global head of portfolio trading. Clorite referred calls to the press office. Louise Beeson, spokeswoman at Dresdner in London, did not return calls

Seventeen derivatives houses, including JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, agreed to delay the adoption of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association's 2002 equity derivatives definitions to June 1 at a meeting at JPMorgan's London office on Thursday. The start date was pushed back because derivatives houses still need time to prepare their back office systems and confirmations to handle the change, participants said. This is the same reason that pushed back the date for new credit derivatives definitions (DW, 3/9).

European corporates have capitalized on a sharp rise in interest rate swap rates and implied volatility in recent weeks by executing a flurry of swaps and options, while others have rushed to lock in hedges against further rate spikes. These trades have caused volumes to rocket by 25-50%. French retailers Casino Guichard-Perrachon and Carrefour have reportedly piled into the swap mart to convert a portion of existing debt into fixed, while the jump in implied vol has caused others, including Imperial Tobacco, to look for opportunistic ways to earn premium. Traders said future activity would depend on the direction of swaps rates. Mathieu Guillo, an official in the funding group at Casino in Sainte-Etienne, France, and Pierre Mainoldi, official in the treasury group at Carrefour in Paris, declined comment.

Singapore's Straits Lion Asset Management, with over SGD10.5 billion (USD5.93 billion) under management, plans to invest USD10-30 million in a collateralized debt obligation mezzanine tranche. The firm recently bought into a USD1 billion hybrid CDO issued by HVB Asia, the Asian arm of Germany's HypoVereinsbank. The fund manager is also the reserve fund manager for the deal, according to Lye Thiam Wooi, v.p.

One-month euro/Swiss franc implied volatility rose to 3.538% last week from 3.033% the week before as investors bought euro calls/Swiss franc puts when spot rallied to CHF1.4780 from CHF1.4680. Traders said spot moved due to indications from the Swiss National Bank that it is considering intervening to weaken the franc. Investors were buying options with maturities of up to three months with strikes ranging from CHF1.48-1.50 at spot levels of around CHF1.4720, traders said.

Goldman Sachs is searching for a couple convertible arbitrage traders for its proprietary trading desk in New York as it continues to rebuild the operation after suffering a slew of departures last year, said officials familiar with the firm's plans. The firm is seeking staffers with between three and five years trading experience, according to an official. Jonathan Knight, managing director who heads up the desk in New York, was traveling and could not be reached. Ed Canaday, spokesman in New York, declined comment.

Variance swaps offer investors an effective tool to trade volatility. And they're easier to use than options.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association plans to publish an afternoon market price for Hong Kong dollar interest rate swaps from mid-to-late April. "There's been a demand to have an end-of-day fixing that will act as the benchmark of the day's activity for European and U.S. market participants," said Angela Papesch, head of ISDA's Asia-Pacific office in Singapore. The second fix will be at 4p.m.

Asahi Mutual Life Insurance, with over USD58 billion in assets, is considering ramping up its synthetic collateralized debt obligation investment portfolio as well as increasing its purchases of credit-linked instruments. "We're focusing on the credit derivatives market," said Manabu Tamaru, head of the credit investment department in Tokyo.