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Bank of America has asked Moody's Investors Service to rate a EUR360 million (USD318 million) collateralized debt obligation because a Fitch rating alone could not shift the deal. Hans-Jurg Lips, managing director structured credit products at Bank of America in London, said the firm's experience in the U.S. and the collateral seller's experience in Italy lead it to believe a Fitch rating alone would be sufficient to move the deal in Europe.

Y.J. Rhee, interest-rate derivatives trader at HSBC Korea in Seoul, is joining Credit Agricole Indosuez in Seoul as head of derivatives trading. In this new position Rhee will look to build up the firm's derivatives trading book, offering interest-rate and fx products said J.H. Kim, head of sales, and the other member of the derivatives desk. Kim added that investors in Korea are especially keen on using currency swaps, allowing them to convert off-shore investments into won. He mentioned that Credit Agricole Indosuez would likely become involved with the credit derivative market when regulations are loosened. Rhee could not be reached by press time.

Lehman Brothers, believing that the Australian dollar has bottomed out, is recommending an fx options strategy to take advantage of Aussie upside against the mighty greenback. Ron Leven, currency strategist in Tokyo, said the Aussie dollar is forming a base around USD0.50 and has the potential to reach USD0.53 in the near future. Leven suggests buying a three-month at-the-money Aussie dollar call with a knock-out placed at USD0.49 and selling a three-month Aussie dollar call struck at USD0.53, at an approximate cost of 70 bps. On Wednesday, the Aussie stood at USD0.5027.

Hedge Funds of Australia, an asset management firm based in Sydney, is planning to launch an on-shore hedge fund that will make extensive use of derivatives. Spencer Young, managing director, said the firm is in the planning stages and looking for a start date in the next 12 to 18 months. Young declined to comment on a specific strategy for the fund, citing stiff competition in the Aussie market, but noted he's looking to hire three to four asset managers.

Five-year protection on Eastman Kodak widened by about 10 basis points to 95 basis points (mid-market) last week after the company announced its first-quarter results on Tuesday. The photographic supplies and equipment company reported that its first quarter profits fell to USD150 million, a decrease of 48% from the previous year's first quarter.

Santander Central Hispano Asset Management has written a roughly EUR300 million (USD264.74 million) exotic put on shares of Banco Santander Central Hispano. The sale was designed to provide equity exposure in a EUR300 million guaranteed note the asset manager launched last week.

Korean security house Good Morning Securities is looking to hire two marketers/structurers for fixed-income derivative products as part of a push into the over-the-counter derivatives market and already has hired two traders to guide the process. J.W. Ahn, Korean won interest-rate derivatives trader at Deutsche Bank in Seoul, is taking the new position of head of new products trading, responsible for fx and interest-rate products. Mino Rhee, Korean equity derivatives trader at Commerz Securities in Tokyo, will head up equity derivatives trading, relative value and arbitrage.

American Express Asset Management plans to rotate $200 million of MBS into corporates because it thinks the economy is not as weak as widely supposed, especially with consumer demand bolstering sagging corporate profits, says Jim Snyder, portfolio manager with the Minneapolis, Minn.-based firm.

Source: Thomson Financial/Securities Data. For more information, call Rich Peterson at (973) 645-9701.

HighMark Capital Management is preparing to sell longer-term corporates and buy shorter agencies and ABS for 20% of its portfolio, which would be an $800 million move. The move will shorten duration by 15%, in two progressive stages, aligning the duration to the benchmark by the summer, and shortening it by 5% by year-end, in anticipation of a corporate bond sell-off likely to take place in the second half of the year, after interest rates bottom out this summer, says Richard Grahman portfolio manager at the San Francisco-based investment firm.