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KBC Financial Products (UK) has hired Moorad Choudhry, v.p. in sales and marketing for the structured finance services division of JPMorgan Chase, as its treasurer. Choudhry said he plans to beef up the firm's treasury operation, which is currently a single individual relying on the parent company and overnight money markets for funding. He has plans to establish repo and stock lending facilities within the treasury to diversify the firm's funding sources.

Merrill Lynch has set up a structured credit arm within its principal finance operation and has appointed Steve Padovano, former global head of credit derivatives in New York, to spearhead the effort. The initiative comes as more firms look toward principal finance as a means of competing in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Padovano declined comment. Michael DuVally, spokesman in New York, declined to comment.

Morgan Stanley has hired Mal Brooks, managing director in cross-rates sales at UBS in Stamford, as an executive director. He reports to Dennis Scurletis, managing director and head of interest rate sales, according to Mark Lake, spokesman in New York. Brooks could not be reached and Scurletis did not return calls.

"There is a perfect storm--refinancing and hedging activity on one side, and no one is at home on the other side in the corporate world."--Robert Gay, head of fixed income strategy at Commerzbank Securities, explaining why the U.S. swap spread has blown out so much. For complete story , click here.

Charles Annandale, has resigned from his role as head of equity derivatives at SG Securities in London to work as a consultant at XBZ, a London-based equity derivative boutique. He will also consult for the U.K. warrants division at SG in London, working with David Lake, head of U.K. warrants. Annandale said, "I felt like a change after my seven-year stint."

Singapore's Straits Lion Asset Management, with over SGD13 billion (USD7.42 billion) under management, is currently in talks with several investment banks in regards to investing in synthetic collateralized debt obligations. "Everyone's been knocking on our door," said Teresa Chan, marketing manager. The firm is looking to invest in another CDO before year end, but Chan declined comment on the details of possible transactions.

Major asset managers in Thailand, including SCB Asset Management and Kasikorn Asset Management, are looking at offshore products such as synthetic collateralized debt obligations on the back of recent deregulation. Two weeks ago the Bank of Thailand announced it would ease exchange control regulations to allow institutional investors access to offshore markets.

Officials at several major derivatives houses are protesting a requirement to seek permission from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley to structure trades on the TRAC-X index. They say the rule, required under licensing agreements, could stifle liquidity and innovation related to TRAC-X and prompt a move toward trades structured on arbitrary baskets.

Chris Pohle, managing director in institutional equity derivatives trading at UBS in Stamford, Conn., has left the firm. Pohle reported to Michael Mahaffy, managing director and head of equity derivatives, according to Kris Kagel, spokesman in New York. Mahaffy did not respond to messages.

Tresckow Capital Management will consider opting for non-recourse leverage for its recently launched Tresckow Partners risk arbitrage fund, which currently holds USD10 million in assets.Jonathan Choslovsky, partner in San Francisco, said the firm will look to leverage its positions as the fund grows and becomes involved in more merger and acquisition plays. By taking on non-recourse leverage Tresckow will be protected form any risk in the deal, with the leverage provider being responsible for the leveraged assets, he added.

Bradford & Bingley, a U.K. financial services firm, has converted a three-year EUR300 million (USD344 million) floating-rate note into a synthetic sterling-denominated liability. Peter Fullerton, head of dealing in Bingley, said, "The spread on sterling is marginally in our favor." The maturity of the swap will match that of the note.

Westdeutsche Landesbank has merged its equity derivatives and fixed income groups in Tokyo. Kei Mitsui, head of distribution in Tokyo, said the move follows the firm's closure of its cash equity business earlier this year. Mitsui said that salesmen from the fixed income side are now cross-marketing fixed income and equity products to corporates while specialists from the equity group are concentrating on securities firms.