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Banca Lombarda e Piemontese this week launched its first securitisation, a Eu505m deal backed by equipment, auto and real estate leases originated by the bank's leasing division SBS Leasing, Italy's eighth largest leasing company. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), the deal is the first of a number of securitisations Banca Lombarda is planning in an attempt to access new sources of funding and bring regulatory capital relief.

Bankinter, the Spanish bank and mortgage lender, this week launched a Eu1.322bn securitisation backed by a portfolio of its residential mortgages. Lead managed by Bankinter itself, Crédit Agricole Indosuez and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, the deal is one of the largest securitisations to be launched by a Spanish issuer into the term market.

TD Securities, Credit Suisse First Boston, Bank of New York and J.P. Morgan are seeking commitments on a $300 million, delayed-draw term loan add-on for American Tower and TD is also seeking commitments to expand the existing facility of its Mexican subsidiary, American Tower de Mexico. Ann Alter, spokeswoman, said American Tower has an option to increase its current $2 billion in credit facilities by a further $500 million. The delayed draw-term loan provides the option to use the cash, but it may not necessarily be tapped, Alter said.

Regal Cinemas bank debt reportedly traded in the 102-104 range this week on news of the company filing for bankruptcy. While two dealers confirmed levels in that range, one said they were actually higher. He declined, however, to give an exact level. The company filed in mid-October as part of a prepackaged restructuring program under which investor Philip Anschutz will take control of the company. Calls to Dick Westerling, head of investor relations, were not returned. The cinema chain is based in Knoxville, Tenn.

Wyndham International's "B" paper traded up to 81 from 78 last week as distressed buyers start to take an interest in the paper. Approximately $7 million changed hands. Traders also said that the credit has gone from being a par name and is now being traded by distressed dealers for the anticipated recovery. "Par guys are not in it anymore," said one. "Distressed players are making their bets on it." Dallas-based Wyndham manages 240 hotels. Richard Smith, cfo, referred calls to investor relations department and not returned.

An estimated $20 million chunk of Xerox's bank debt notched down slightly to the 81-83 range from the mid-80s on a Standard & Poor's downgrade of the company's revolver to BB from BBB-. The company, while going ahead with its debt reduction plan, lost business in late September as a result of the World Trade Center attacks. Regal Cinemas, still being traded as a distressed credit, has moved up to 102-104 from the mid-90s on the prepackaged bankruptcy filing.

Credit Suisse First Boston Tuesday launched syndication of its $1 billion credit for NorthWestern, backing the planned acquisition of Montana Power's transmission and distribution business for $1.1 billion. Pricing on both the $400 million, 364-day revolver and $600 million, 364-day acquisition facility is LIBOR plus 1 1/4%, based on a grid, with a 20 basis points commitment fee. Spokesman, Roger Scrum of NorthWestern confirmed CSFB was arranging the revolver facilities, but was unable to answer further questions, as the acquisition has still not yet closed and Kipp Orme, v.p. of finance and cfo at Northwestern is in New York. Asked when the acquisition is set to close, Scrum responded, " It's in the hands of the regulators." There is no set time for the deal to be approved.

Bank of America has hired three fixed income and credit derivatives pros and plans to add up to five more to beef up its commitments in Japan as part of a restructuring effort. Growing client demand for fixed-income and credit products, such as structured notes and synthetic collateralized debt obligations, has prompted the move, according to Kenichi Tatsuzawa, managing director and head of the global markets group in Tokyo-which runs all fixed-income related products. Before the department was structured along product lines with nobody taking direct responsibility for Asia. The firm has implemented the change to better co-ordinate the products in the region as the department grows.

CDC Ixis has launched an over-the-counter equity derivatives desk in New York. CDC started trading at the beginning of the month under the direction of Richard Suth, head trader, who joined from CIBC World Markets about three months ago. Suth said the desk is part of CDC's push to capture a piece of the burgeoning U.S. equity derivatives market.

Bear Stearns International is planning to grow its London-based interest-rate product group by nearly 50% in the coming months as part of the firm's ambition to become a larger player in the European market, according to George Polychronopoulos, senior managing director. Polychronopoulos, who will lead the effort, joined last month from Deutsche Bank, where he was most recently head of marketing to Scandinavia and Greece (DW, 10/1). Previously he had been head of Scandinavian and Greek interest-rate products. At Bear Stearns, his position is parallel to that of Jérôme Camblain, who runs the sales side.

Volumes in the London credit derivatives market slumped last week as traders turned their attention away from making prices and instead focused on settling contracts on Railtrack and Swissair. Overall volumes for the asset class were roughly 25-30% lower than an average week, according to traders. "There's been a noticeable decline because participants are settling contracts and thus doing less business," said Tim Frost, head of European credit derivatives at J.P. Morgan in London. He said the decline indicates a "lack of infrastructure" as the credit derivatives market continues to grow. "Most people are spending a lot of their time this week on Railtrack," noted another trader.

Indianapolis-based Great Lakes Chemical Corp., a producer of specialty chemicals for flame retardant devises, such as fire extinguishers, is considering tapping the interest-rate derivatives market for its first foray into any type of derivatives product. John Kunz, treasurer, said the company's decision to begin eyeing interest-rate swaps has been prompted by a continued flattening of the U.S. Treasury yield curve.