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Lehman Brothers has added Mark Versey, U.K. equity derivatives salesman at Deutsche Bank in London, as a salesman in Lehman's fixed-income derivatives solutions team, reporting to Philippe Dufournier, head of the fixed-income derivatives solutions team. Jessica Shepherd-Smith, spokeswoman in London, confirmed the move. Dufournier did not return calls.

Merrill Lynch has hired Mitch Matharu and Sreenivasan Iyre, structurers in the emerging markets structuring group at Credit Suisse First Boston in Hong Kong, for similar roles in its strategic solutions group. "As the Asian market continues to mature, clients are increasing their appetite for derivatives," said Samir Atassi, director and head of the strategic solutions group at Merrill in Hong Kong, to whom the duo now report. The group handles interest rate, foreign exchange and credit structuring for institutional and corporate clients.

Nordic Investment Bank, a multilateral financial lending institution, has entered two interest rate swaps on a recent fixed-rate USD1 billion bond offering to convert the issue into two floating rate liabilities--one denominated in euros and one in U.S. dollars. Kari Kukka, head of funding in Helsinki, said the Nordic Investment Bank sold a dollar-denominated bond because it allowed the institution to achieve a favorable funding rate, but it converted USD500 million of the proceeds into euros because it has some lending requirements in that currency. Both swaps match the five-year maturity of the bond.

"There has been a lot of interest on the buyside for [synthetic convertibles] because the convertibles market is almost completely busted--there is a lot of money chasing very little issuance."--Pavel Verzhbitsky, convertibles research analyst at Lehman Brothers in London, commenting on why investors are starting to buy synthetic convertible bonds. For complete story, click here.

Scotia Capital has hired Miranda Zhao, v.p. in the structured products group at Deutsche Bank in New York, as a structured credit marketer in London in a new position to increase its profile among investors. "There are more and more investors [in collateralized debt obligations], but it is a challenge to meet their requirements as they have become more demanding," said Frank Ackermann, head of investor marketing in the credit derivatives and credit investments group in London. "At the same time, we are seeing spread tightening, which makes it harder to generate the pay outs to compensate for the risk."

The Royal Bank of Scotland has hired Trevor Vail, credit derivatives trader at ING Financial Markets in Hong Kong, as Asian head of credit trading to set up a trading desk in Tokyo. The firm already trades Japanese credit derivatives out of London, but is now establishing a local desk, according to Pierre Ferland, branch manager and treasurer in Tokyo.

Colm O'Shea, managing director at Citigroup Global Markets, has joined Soros Fund Management in New York. At Citigroup, O'Shea was responsible for managing a Treasury bond portfolio, which included derivatives, and will likely have similar responsibilities in his new position, said an official familiar with the move. O'Shea could not be reached.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

What's in a name? Certainly a lot if you believe fund managers and bankers. Forest Creek is named after a golf course; Race Point II after a lighthouse; Chiron CDO I is from the comet and Hanover Square CLO is from a New York park. These are just some of the names that have been created past and present in the CDO market, but some distressed debt managers and CLO managers are said to be having trouble naming their new potential funds. And all along we thought finding equity was the tough part.

This chart, provided by Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney Inc., tracks bid-ask prices for par credit facilities that trade in the secondary market. It also tracks facility amounts, ratings, pricing and maturities.