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Deutsche Asset Management has hired Greg Croll as head high-yield trader for its Philadelphia office. He joined last week, reporting to Andrew Cestone, portfolio manager and head of high-yield. Croll's most recent position was as New York-based managing director and head of fixed-income trading at ING Barings Securities, which shuttered its operation about a year ago. He declined comment, and Cestone did not return calls. A fixed-income official close to Croll says he wanted to return to the buy-side, where he spent five years, also at ING.

Recovery for lenders on Mobile Storage Group's new $200 million credit would be inadequate in a default scenario where the collateral declines and the line is fully drawn, according to Standard & Poor's. The ratings agency has assigned a BB rating to the credit, which comprises a $60 million, five-year revolver and a $140 million, seven-year term loan and was launched by Credit Suisse First Boston andLehman Brothers on May 3.

Deutsche Bank is in the market with a $50 million add-on institutional tranche for credit card information processor Transaction Network Services. Launched at the end of last month, the six-year credit is priced at par with a spread of LIBOR plus 33/ 4%, a banker said. Deutsche Bank underwrote the original $150 million loan backing Chicago-based GTCR Golder Rauner LLC's leveraged buyout of the company last year. Questions were referred to CFO Henry Graham, who did not return calls by press time. The existing $100 million "B" loan is priced at LIBOR plus 31/ 2%. Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and Heller Financial are syndication agent and documentation agent, respectively, for the credit. Deutsche Bank officials declined comment.

Barclays Capital is in the market warehousing European collateral for a Euro$350 million collateralized debt obligation--originally slated for Euro$450 million but downsized, according to dealers, because pricing on attractive bonds has tightened in Europe. Faith Bartlett, portfolio manager at Barclays, did not return calls by press time. The deal is reportedly structured to comprise a majority of leveraged loan assets, but as with most European cash flow arbitrage structures, the deal also has bonds in the collateral mix as loan assets are scarce. "The bonds are pricing too tight now so they reduced the deal," said a market player, who said Credit Suisse First Boston is now shopping a new structure for the firm. CSFB officials did not return calls by press time.

The Bond Market Association, the New York-based-bond dealer trade group, is studying the feasibility of opening a Tokyo office to help facilitate interaction between its members and regulators in the Japanese market. Micah Green, president, says he hopes to have the study done by the July board meeting when he says the matter can be put to a vote. Green says that over the past several months he has had conversations with board members who have said that the growth and importance of the Japanese repurchase agreement markets, as well as the securitization and e-commerce markets, warrants the BMA's presence in Tokyo.

Senior corporate bond officials at Banc of America Securities are considering starting a proprietary hedge fund that would invest in the credit markets, according to an official at the firm. He declined further comment, and referred calls to Tara Burke, a firm spokeswoman, who declined comment. One fixed-income official familiar with the situation compares the proposed vehicle to UBS Principal Finance (see story, page 2) and to CLCM Credit Management, a new multi-billion-dollar operation just started by Credit Lyonnais (BW, 4/14), in that it would use the investment bank's capital, but be independent from the firm's secondary trading operations. The possibility of a B of A vehicle modeled after UBS Principal Finance and CLCM Credit Management is the latest sign that investment banks are increasingly investing their own capital in the credit markets.

Calpine's "B" term loan is now in retail syndication with investors being offered a 1/4% upfront fee. Funds that committed before the retail round received a 11/ 2% discount, said a banker. The spread on the "B" is still LIBOR plus 33/ 4%, and even though the loan is now subscribed, the pricing is unlikely to be changed again, he added. The original terms were altered substantially after investors balked at the risk of lending to the embattled power generator, investors and bankers said. The originally floated LIBOR plus 23/ 4% spread was increased, some added collateral was thrown in and an equity offering has been announced that will provide some added liquidity, said a banker.

Cerberus Capital has snared a team of ex-Heller Financial pros to form Dymas Capital last week, and is gearing up to fill the void created by lender withdrawals for private equity middle-market deals. Explaining the timing and strategy of forming Dymas, Andy Marek, managing director, said, "There are not many cash-flow lenders serving the middle-market. There have been some new entrants but the foreign banks and domestic institutions have retrenched." The private equity firms are flush with cash right now and they need debt-capital, noted Al Ricchio, also a managing director at Dymas.

Credit Suisse Asset Management is ramping up a $350 million collateralized loan obligation that market players are saying is expected to be upsized a bit as the manager has been able to find additional collateral for the deal. The deal will comprise a majority of leveraged loan assets and a small percentage of high yield bonds--loans make up at least 70% of the deal, said sources. Officials at CSFB declined to comment. Ramp up on the deal began in February and after notes price and the warehoused assets are transferred to a special purpose vehicle, the dealer will continue with the final ramp up on the transaction which is expected to close in the next couple of months.

Geneva Steel, a Vineyard, Utah-based steel mill company operating under Chapter 11 proceedings, is seeking a new $250 million credit facility and is in talks with potential lenders. "The new loan will finance incremental investment in Geneva and refinance an existing loan," said Ken Johnsen, president and ceo. "We're talking to a lot of banks, and one bank is doing due diligence right now." He declined to name the banks or provide a timeframe for when a decision will be made. In addition to financing Geneva's turnaround strategy, the loan would repay a $110 million Citibank-led term loan. He declined to say whether Citi is in the running, what the pricing might be and what the pricing is on the existing line. Johnsen could not provide a date for exit from Chapter 11, but this will not be for some time.

One trader says nearly all of the trading last week was in five names: WorldCom, Tyco, Dynegy, Calpine and Adelphia. "If you didn't trade one of those names you could throw a line in the water and start fishing it was so slow," he added. Spread sensitive names backed up with Treasury yields, and telecommunications towers were weaker after poor numbers. Below is some of the action.

HSBC Securities lost the last senior member of its capital markets origination desk last week when Usman Ghani left the firm to join Bob Post, his former boss at Bear Stearns, in the financial institutions group of the capital markets division. He had been with HSBC over five years and declined comment on the reason for his departure. As of last Wednesday, the only remaining person on the HSBC origination desk was Hugo Moore, an associate, who is roughly two years out of college.