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Tim Youssef, former director in equity derivatives trading at Credit Lyonnais Securities in New York, has resurfaced at institutional broker Burlington Capital Markets, as a managing director and co-head of equity derivatives. Paul Basile, who co-heads the desk with Youssef, said the loss of trust by many clients of the bulge brackets research teams means the deciding factors for executing trades have shifted toward execution and price. This has leveled the playing field for firms such as Burlington, according to Basile.

Citigroup has hired Colin Sharpe, head of credit structuring at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, to head its exotics and cross-markets trading team in Singapore. The move is part of Citigroup's restructuring of its Asia-Pacific foreign exchange, debt and interest rate desks, according to Tom Pragastis, regional head of trading at Citigroup in Singapore, and to whom Sharpe reports.

Ashwin Kumar, head of interest rate trading at Commerzbank Securities in New York, is joining Banc of America Securities in London, reportedly in a similar role. The move is the latest in a stampede of staffers exiting Commerzbank, many of which have reportedly been initiated by low bonus payouts (DW, 5/5). Ali Satrap, global head of interest rate trading at Commerzbank in London, to whom Kumar reported, said that Kumar's move was not motivated by dissatisfaction at Commerzbank, but instead by the appeal of the new opportunity at BofA. Liz Wood, spokeswoman at BofA, was not able to comment by press time.

Crédit Agricole Indosuez plans to start stripping convertible bonds and hire credit derivatives professionals as part of its effort to boost its Japanese desk. The firm is looking to hire a senior trader and a marketer in the coming weeks, according to Loïc Fery, global head of credit derivatives and structures in London. The move follows an increase in exotic trades, such as CDOs and baskets, which means the trading book needs to be more actively managed. The firm is already one of the largest convertible bond strippers in London and recently started structuring the first synthetic collateralized debt obligation referenced to convertibles to lay off some of the risk (DW, 3/30).

Credit Suisse First Boston's Adam Sticpewich, managing director and global co-head of emerging markets credit derivatives, is in the process of returning to London from Hong Kong. Josephine Lee, spokeswoman in Hong Kong, said Sticpewich is relocating to assume the role of global head of emerging markets credit derivatives rather than co-head as part of structural changes in the fixed-income division. Lee declined further comment. Sticpewich, who was based in Hong Kong for more than two years, could not be reached.

Thomas Paul, chairman of the global markets interest rate risk committee at Deutsche Bank in London, has moved to New York to kickstart a fixed-income-focused trading arm, which will reportedly employ capital from both Deutsche Bank and third parties. The unit will invest in bonds and use over-the-counter derivatives, according to an official familiar with the project. Paul, who declined comment, is in talks with senior staffers at competing firms to join the project, with hires expected to be made over the coming weeks, the official added.

U.K.-based credit derivatives investors are asking credit shops for sterling-denominated synthetic credit instruments referenced to indices. Daniel Beharall, director of tactical fixed income at Henderson Global Investors in London, said he would like to invest in such liquid products, but investment banks do not offer them as yet.

One-month euro/dollar volatility inched up to 10.6% last Wednesday, from 10.2% the previous week. The upward volatility trend arose from movements in spot, which saw the dollar weaken to USD1.14 Wednesday, down from USD1.11 the week before, according to a trader in New York. Over the past week yield plays have been the talk of the market, with money flowing into the euro as players chase higher yields, said the trader. Volatility on one-year options jumped to 10.5% from 10.2% over the same period.

Credit-default swap spreads on France Telecom tightened to less than 100 basis points on Tuesday after the telco's recent rights offering. The move is part of a general tightening, but is still a huge shift bearing in mind France Telecom was trading at over 300bps in mid-2002. CDS traders said the entire credit-default swaps market saw extreme tightening early in the week, but the market became negative on credit in general after Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan expressed deflation fears Wednesday. France Telecom followed this trend and widened back out to 115bps/120bps Thursday from about 95bps mid-market on Tuesday, traders said.

Matthew Cannon, former credit product salesman for institutional clients at HSBC, has returned to his old stomping ground to work in the structured credit trading department in London. Cannon will report to Nobby Clark, head of structured credit trading in London. In this new role, he will act as the liaison between different sales distribution channels and the structured credit products group.

Insight Investment, the asset management firm for the HBOS Group, with GBP64 billion (USD102.53 billion) under management, is planning to start purchasing credit derivatives. Abdallah Nauphal, managing director of fixed income and currencies in London and the head of a team that manages GBP40 billion across institutional and retail funds, said the firm would likely start using the products for hedging credit exposure in the next 12 months. "Maybe we should do a customer visit," said a dealer at a large credit derivatives house in London.