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A team of six structuring and asset management professionals from the recently folded Westmoreland Capital Management are in talks with investment banks, boutiques and fund of fund managers to capitalize a new structuring and asset management venture. Jim Keegan, former head of asset management and cio at Westmoreland in New York, said the management team has strong asset management and structuring expertise and will apply this to develop and manage a wide array of products, including synthetic collateralized debt obligations. The team is considering several options including entering a joint venture, working as a subsidiary, or even joining a firm as employees, he said.

Goldman Sachs has reorganized its Asian derivatives effort in Hong Kong, integrating cash and equity derivatives trading and establishing a multiple asset-class structuring group. David Voon, managing director and head of equity derivatives in Hong Kong, said he and Tom Morrow, head of Asian shares in Hong Kong, will be co-head the newly minted equity products group. Morrow, who had run the cash equity sales group, declined comment. "Whether they're trading cash products or derivatives, clients see us as one firm--not different departments," said Voon.

Macquarie Equities (Asia) has kicked off its marketing effort for a share accumulating equity-linked note in Hong Kong. "It's a very suitable product for the current market environment as investors are becoming cautiously optimistic," said Matthew Long, head of equity derivatives sales in Hong Kong. The note, dubbed KODA, for Knock-out Discount Accumulation, is referenced to domestic or U.S. shares and allows clients to buy shares below their spot price.

Greg Tell, director and head of exotic credit derivatives trading at Merrill Lynch in New York, is moving to Citigroup Global Markets. He will be taking a newly created role, according to one firm insider.

"I'm moving to Hawaii."--Jim Clark, Japanese head of equity trading at UBS in Tokyo, commenting on what he will do in retirement. For complete story, click here.

Recent reports detailing U.S. mortgage financier Freddie Mac's accounting woes have placed too much emphasis on its notional interest-rate derivatives position, which in turn is providing a misleading portrait of the mortgage giant's potential liabilities, according to derivatives professionals. Joseph Suh, partner at Morrison & Foerster in New York, noted that many recent articles have focused on Freddie Mac's supposed USD700 billion (notional) derivatives position but they have not adequately explained that this exposure does not equate to having an aggregate potential liability of the same size. The recently announced investigation into Freddie Mac's accounting practices by the Securities and Exchange Commission has sparked a debate over the role of derivatives as a risk management tool.

UBS' Japanese equity trading head in Tokyo, Jim Clark, plans to retire from the industry this week. "I'm moving to Hawaii," said Clark, a 12-year veteran in the Japanese market who looked after both cash and equity derivatives trading. Clark started his career at O'Connor in Chicago and worked in New York and London before moving to Japan with Swiss Bank Corp., which had bought the Chicago trading house. Clark said he has no plans to reenter the business. "It's time to kick back and relax," he added.

Residential mortgage securitizations amortize at different rates, which makes hedging the interest rate risk a complicated task. This article examines what happens if the swap is terminated early.

Bruce Steinberg, managing director in credit derivatives sales at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, has crossed the river to work for RBS Greenwich Capital's collateralized debt obligation group. Steinberg could not be reached.

Brown-Forman, a diversified producer and marketer of brand-name drinks including Jack Daniel's, Southern Comfort and Fetzer Wines, has entered a foreign exchange collar to hedge GBP3 million (USD5 million) of sterling sales. Roger Shannon, assistant treasurer in Louisville, Ky., said the corporate regularly enters collars on foreign currencies and sterling is one of its largest exposures because of U.K. sales. The size and number of trades varies according to sales patterns with sales generally picking up in the run up to Christmas, he noted.

Credit-default-swaps with two credit-event triggers started trading in Japan last week, a move which is being pushed by domestic sellers of protection and local houses such as Nomura Securities and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. These contracts can only be triggered if the reference entity goes bankrupt or fails to pay an obligation, the so-called soft credit event of restructuring does not apply. "Most investors prefer two credit events," said a trader at Nomura, noting that last Monday the domestic houses began quoting trades in the contracts.

Robert Canning, managing director and senior credit derivatives marketer responsible for U.S. agencies at Bear Stearns in New York, has joined UBS in Stamford, Conn., as an executive director in derivatives sales. Jon Bass, managing director and head of U.S. fixed income distribution, to whom Canning reports, did not return calls. Canning could not be reached and Kris Kagel, spokesman in Stamford, declined comment.