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Barclays Capital in London has hired Nagi Bedawi, a trader at hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management. He joined Monday as a director trading equity volatility, reporting to Franck Lacour, head of volatility trading in London. Bedawi referred calls to the press office.

Demand for zero-coupon bonds coupled with equity tranches is gaining ground as high-yield investors latch onto the leveraged structures to beef up risk/return profiles. "Rather than take on a sub-investment grade bond, they are buying equity that is leveraged to investment grade and getting better return from their exposure," said one structuring official, noting specialist investment funds in the U.S. are making up the bulk of buyers.

The meeting’s organisers predict broader private sector involvement

Months of spread tightening on the European iTraxx suite reversed this week on the back of players exiting long bond/short credit-default swap positions. Traders said last week's downturn in the cash equity markets acted as a signal for people to take profit and buy protection on the indices, which drove spreads wider. "People have been trigger-happy calling the chop," said one London-based trader. The five-year European Main index broadened to 30.5 basis points Tuesday from 26 bps last week, five-year crossover to 252 bps from 225 bps and the five-year HiVol to 54.25 bps from 45 bps over the same period. There was also widening in index tranches, with iTraxx seven-year 3-6% 25 bps wider at 155 bps.

Ukraine's banking sector has been transformed in the last 18 months. A wave of foreign banks have bought many of the country's biggest lenders, often in fierce bidding competitions.

Michael Discher-Remmlinger is senior portfolio manager of Pimco's emerging markets bond fund in Munich. He tells Duncan Kerr his investment outlook for Ukraine.

Though equity, commodity, and inflation-linked hybrid deals have come thick and fast in the EuroMTN market this year, investment banks are finding they are vying for a smaller piece of an increasingly smaller pie in a difficult environment, particularly for structured EuroMTN products, writes Gavin Finch

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The success of Eurobonds from PrivatBank and iron and steel company Azovstal before the March elections showed international investors remain supportive of Ukraine's improving, though rather shaky credit story. But the real test of appetite this year has yet to come. Most of Ukraine's issuers have been hanging back until the parliamentary election and subsequent wrangling are out of the way. Borrowers and investors alike hope that a sustainable government can be formed and that ructions with Russia do not sour investors' confidence in Ukraine. Duncan Kerr reports.

Despite a hostile environment and continuing concerns over constant maturity swap rate products, EuroMTN issuers still feel the structured market offers attractive levels of funding. Brendan Freeman and Henry Williams ask some of the structured note market's leading issuers about their views on the market this year and their expectations for the year ahead.