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At least $25-30 million of XO Communications is believed to have traded in the high 40s this week, falling from the low 50s as the company's restructuring negotiations hit a snag. Financier Carl Icahn has pulled his offer for the company off the table, according to reports, but some market players suggested that he will come back to ensure the value of his bond investments. A $15-20 million piece of the name was sold by a bank in the 46-47 context this week.

Emanuel Derman, managing director and head of the quantitative risk strategies group in the firm-wide risk department in New York, is leaving Goldman Sachs next month. Derman is "one of the most prominent quantitative analysts in the options area," according to Andrew Harmstone, head of European derivatives and quantitative research at Lehman Brothers in London. Derman also won the International Association of Financial Engineers' coveted Financial Engineer of the Year award in 2000.

Italy has a line-up of corporates that promise to become real players in the capital markets. Global, European and Italian firms alike are converging their focus on this same group of issuers and potential issuers: large cap companies that are rarely seen in the market, and the unrated mid-caps that have a good story to tell and are prepared to loosen their traditional banking ties. Quentin Carruthers reports.

Italian banking securitisation is a favourite old story, with repeat issuers across the mortgage, consumer loan and leasing sectors providing consistent dealflow for asset backed investors. As yet, only a handful of public deals have emerged from the corporate sector. But bankers and CFOs are hopeful that they can add a new chapter to the tale. Neil Unmack reviews how corporates are managing to get structures away under Italy's securitisation law - Law 130 - and reports on the encouraging legal changes in store.

The Italian Treasury has played a decisive role in the turnaround in the country's fortunes over the past 10 years. Having issued in all major international currencies, built a coherent strategy and constructed a full yield curve, the Treasury has also been a world leader in securitisation. This year Italy was upgraded by Moody's, but changes on the European stage have been as important as the Treasury's own initiatives. Quentin Carruthers reports.

As Italy watches the Azzuri at the World Cup this summer, ECM bankers will be following the progress of some high profile names back home. Although the ECM pipeline is encouraging, not until recent weeks have some firm IPO plans emerged from Italy's major corporates, with Prada and Ferrari topping the list. Steve Metcalfe asks if success for them can reignite wider investor confidence.

BNP Paribas has hired Kara Paik, a consultant at McKinsey & Company in Chicago, as a marketer in its equity derivatives group. Paik, who joined the New York office about three weeks ago, is filling a newly created position, according to a firm spokeswoman.

The head of BNP Paribas' credit derivatives desk in Tokyo threatened to call in the regulator last week after competitors allegedly frontran a convertible bond issue by taking positions in the credit-default swap market. The problem occurred when dealers piled into the credit market two weeks ago to buy protection on Fujitsu before it became widely known that the company was about to issue a convertible bond. Stephane Delacote's complaints were sparked when credit-default swap volumes on Fujitsu increased three-fold in anticipation of a convertible bond offering (DW, 5/13). In a Bloomberg message sent to the major market makers and obtained by DW, he said, "This heavy trading reflects leaks of information and unfair trading." The message continued "we unfortunately will have no other choice than alerting regulators of any massive and unusual trading before the official announcements of a new CB issue." Delacote declined to comment on the matter. For full text click here.

BNP Paribas is expanding its New York foreign exchange institutional sales team, according to Nigel Babbage, global head of currency options in New York. Babbage said the move is aimed at meeting the rapid growth of the hedge fund market in the U.S. BNP plans to hire two or three senior marketers by year-end.

Bank of America is planning on consolidating its Asian credit derivatives trading operation in Tokyo in the coming months, according to Kenichi Tatsuzawa, head of global markets in Tokyo. "We are trying to centralize the trading operation," said Tatsuzawa, adding, "Traders should sit together, creating synergies for the team." The firm is looking to relocate Nick Jones, v.p. of credit trading in Hong Kong, who handles trading for the Asian region, to Tokyo in the coming months. Jones declined comment.