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FTN Financial released collateralized mortgage obligation structuring veteran Charles Smart just seven months after being brought on to add to its nascent New York mortgage effort (BW, 2/3). Smart was not able to be reached. He had overseen the issuance of four seperate $250 million deals, transactions that had been highly profitable for the growing regional dealer, according to several FTN Financial insiders. Deke Iglehart, the Memphis-based head of fixed-income sales and trading, declined to comment, citing corporate policy. John Hanlon, the head of the CMO effort, was vacationing in Italy and was due back today.

Greenwich Capital Markets is the newest addition to Freddie Mac's 10-year reference note underwriting group, according to agency desk co-head Scott Graham. The firm was included in the underwriting group announced last Monday, which also included joint lead managers Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. Jerome Lienhard, senior v.p. of investment funding at Freddie Mac, did not return a phone call seeking comment. An agency pro at a competing primary dealer says both Freddie and Fannie Mae tend to heavily scrutinize a dealer before admitting them to their selling groups, both of which contain 10 members. Potential managers are evaluated on their agency bond trading volume and research, capital base, the experience level of their agency team and trading volumes in related products, such as Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.

A $397.5 million real estate collateralized debt obligation, whose collateral is managed by GMAC Investment Advisors, is expected to price later this month. Goldman Sachs, Wachovia Securities and Morgan Stanley are on a roadshow until the end of this week to sell the debt of G-STAR 2002-2 CDO, says a CDO market official. Goldman and Wachovia are joint lead-managers while Morgan Stanley is co-manager. No indicative pricing was available at press time. Brian DiDonato, portfolio manager at GMAC Investment Advisors in Horsham, Pa., did not return calls.

J.&W. Seligman & Co. unloaded the last of its J.P. Morgan Chase holdings last Monday, selling $6.63 million of the 5.25% notes of '07 (A1/A+) at a spread of 164 basis points over Treasuries. The bonds had widened to 189 basis points over the curve by last Friday morning. "We're probably out for good," says Paul Pertusi, portfolio manager of $1.75 billion in taxable fixed-income at the New York-based asset manager. He cites concerns about the bank's overall strategy and execution.

OppenheimerFunds subsidiary HarbourView Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Management are shopping for assets for two new collateralized loan obligations, as both firms try and chalk up their second deal in a year. Both firms are tapping the market at an opportune moment, one portfolio manager stated, explaining that spreads on notes being issued to fund the transactions are rising but the underlying asset spreads also are widening considerably. The Merrill Lynch deal is a $328 million cash-flow arbitrage transaction called LongHorn CDO III, said a banker. Merrill closed on LongHorn CDO II, a $350 million vehicle, in February. The approximately $300 million HarborView vehicle, underwritten by Salomon Smith Barney, will be the firm's fifth CDO and it follows hot on the heels of HarbourView CLO IV, a $350 million vehicle that closed in January.

Moody's Investors Service has hired Michael Gerdes, an investment manager in the asset-backed securities group at MetLife as a senior commercial mortgage-backed securities analyst in New York, says Tad Philipp, managing director and head of the CMBS group. Gerdes could not be reached for comment.

Nextel Communications' bank debt slipped last week after a negative equity report from J.P. Morgan claimed that the company did not correctly account for its bad debt expense and its customer churn rate. The market for the bank debt fell from the 86 level to the 84 1/2 - 85 1/2 range. In response to the report, the company issued a statement assuring investors of the integrity of its financial results and claimed that the report employed an "over-simplified model and erroneous assumptions."

AT&T Corp.'s new 364-day revolver has seen a lot of action after breaking into the secondary market last week. Traders said the paper initially was moving in the 93 1/2 - 94 1/2 context, but they noted that it had firmed up to the 94 7/8 - 95 7/8 range later in the week. Although the $4 billion revolver has a short term, traders said the price is depressed because market players are hesitant to buy into the paper after being badly burned by other telecom names.

The Clinton Group, a New York-based hedge fund, has hired Robert Smalley, a banking analyst and head of corporate bond research at HSBC Securities, according to an official at HSBC. Smalley could not be reached. Thomas Schnepp, head of global fixed-income arbitrage at the Clinton Group, referred calls to Patrick O' Meara, a firm spokesman, who did not return calls.

PNC Bank and Citibank are readying a $525 million refinancing forMassey Energy. The Richmond, Va., coal producer had been discussing a new credit facility with potential lenders, aiming to close a deal before the $150 million revolving portion of its existing $400 million facility expires next month, said Phil Nichols, assistant treasurer. The expiring 364-day piece, however, has a one-year term-out option if the company is unable to refinance successfully. A bank meeting date could not be ascertained, and officials at PNC and Citibank did not return calls by press time.

The sub-underwriting phase for QwestDex, the directories business of Qwest Communications International, picked up commitments last week, as ING Capital, Bear Stearns, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scotia Capital, Credit Lyonnais and Commerzbank took senior managing agents roles. General Electric Capital Corp. also is said to have received approval for the managing agent tier, but the firm has not yet signed on, said one of the bankers involved in the syndication process.

Jaap Rademaker, v.p. in the structured transactions group at JPMorgan in London, has left the firm. Rademaker reported to Bertrand Des Pallieres, head of rates marketing and structuring at JPMorgan in London. Rademaker joined the firm a year ago in August (DW, 8/15) from Deutsche Bank in London, where he had a similar position. It could not be determined whether Rademaker had gone to a competitor. Des Pallieres referred calls to Eileen Darko, spokeswoman in London, who had no comment. Rademaker could not be reached.