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Global Crossing is actively trading in the street this week with pieces of all tranches trading flat in the 18-19 context. The latest movement comes as reports indicate that IDT Corp. will make a $255 million bid for the company. Although the bankruptcy court has already confirmed a reorganization plan whereby Hutchison Telecommunications Limited and Singapore Technologies Telemedia would invest $250 million in exchange for a 61.5% ownership position, this deal may come under fire due to national security concerns.

Andrew Constan, global head of equity derivatives at Salomon Smith Barney, is leaving the firm. "I am leaving on the best of terms," said Constan, adding that the decision was motivated by a desire to change his lifestyle. Constan said he has no immediate plans to join a competitor and has made no final decision regarding future plans. Joe Elmlinger, global head of sales and structuring in equity derivatives, will take over the head role. Elmlinger did not return calls left with his assistant. Duncan King, a spokesman at SSB in New York, declined comment.

By Tom Groenfeldt

ABN AMRO is structuring a synthetic securitization referenced to airplane leases, which it expects to price this quarter. John Mullen, head of global structured credit markets in London, said the deal is likely to be over USD1 billion and privately placed, but declined further comment.

BNP Paribas has hired Sunny Park, a researcher in the structured finance research team at Fitch Ratings, in a similar role for its credit research group in Hong Kong. Park, who starts this week, said she will collaborate with the ABS and CDO origination teams and report to Andrew Freris, chief economist and head of fixed income research in Hong Kong. Freris declined comment.

Bank One is setting up a Korean interest rate derivatives business onshore in Seoul, according to officials familiar with the firm. "The bank has been quite active in the asset-backed security market and is now looking at expanding its product range," said one market official familiar with its plans. The firm currently offers foreign exchange derivatives. H. H. Moon, treasurer in Seoul, declined comment.

Chris Hodson, managing director and head of interest rate derivatives trading at Bank of America in Tokyo, one of the largest players in Japan's swap market, is transferring to Chicago in the coming months. "This is a step up for him," said Michael Thorson, head of proprietary trading in Tokyo, adding, "He's very good at what he does and as the U.S. is a larger market he'll be trading on a bigger scale." Thorson noted that the plan has been in the works since late last year but has been delayed due to the current restructuring in Japan.

Columbia University Investment Management Co., the investment management firm for the school's USD4.3 billion endowment fund, has hired Peter Holland, U.S. head of marketing and structuring of equity derivatives at JPMorgan in New York, as an executive v.p. The endowment fund uses over-the-counter derivatives including equity swaps and foreign exchange puts and calls, according to its financial statement.

Commerzbank Securities has let go four corporate equity derivatives marketers leaving it with no U.S. coverage. The sales team for high-net-worth individuals, meanwhile, has been halved to two, with hedge fund sales positions also being cut, according to an official familiar with the firm.

A December regulation change was the last in a series under which French managers have been given an increasing capacity to trade over-the-counter derivatives, well in advance of the implementation of the "UCITS III" directive, which is due to be implemented by member states within a year.

The cost of one-month dollar/yen options fluctuated last week before settling at 9.8% Wednesday, the same price as the previous week. Implied volatility had jumped to 10.2% Tuesday on the back of movements in the spot market, which saw the yen strengthen to JPY118.6 Wednesday, from JPY120.5 two days earlier, explained one New York-based foreign exchange options trader.

Volumes for credit protection referenced to Deutsche Telekom jumped 10 times last week after the German telecom issued a EUR2.3 billion (USD2.47 billion) mandatory convertible bond. Deutsche Telekom's credit-default swap spreads came in 15 basis points to 190bps on Wednesday when the convertible priced. One trader said volumes jumped to around USD300 million, versus about USD30 million trading on a typical day. Hedge funds were the major buyers of protection.