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Andrew Feldstein, managing director and co-head of North American structured products and derivatives marketing at JPMorgan in New York, has resigned. Michael Dorfsman, a JPMorgan spokesman in New York, confirmed the resignation, adding that Feldstein is exploring other options within JPMorgan or in partnership with the firm. He said it is premature to discuss plans for Feldstein's replacement, declining further comment.

Despite the announcement that Fleming Companies and Kmart had terminated their supply agreement, bank debt levels for Fleming's "B" term loan have remained high. Traders quoted the "B" in the 97 3/4 - 99 1/4 context due to the possibility that the company's term loan will be taken out within the next three months either through asset sales or through a new asset-based facility. The company has $325 million of term loan outstanding. Mark Shapiro, Fleming cfo, could not be reached by press time.

Bank of America Securities has begun to market an EUR1 billion (USD1.08 billion) collateralized debt obligation, called Anchor CDO I that features what is believed to be the first junior super senior tranche. Mitch Braselton, head of global structured products marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa in London, says one motivation behind structuring a deal like Anchor is that monolines and reinsurers--super senior swap providers--are demanding more subordination in deals.

JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank were negotiating with potential buyers as DW went to press Thursday for their collectively owned database of reference entity names for credit-default swaps, and Mark-it Partners in St. Albans, U.K. was the frontrunner. Andy Brindle, head of global derivatives at JPMorgan in New York, said no decision had been made. Officials at Mark-it Partners could not be reached.

Derivatives staffers at Credit Suisse First Boston have reportedly been left reeling after seeing their bonus payouts being cut by as much as 80% on last year, said recruiters in New York. While most staffers were expecting pay cuts, many were not prepared for their scale, which headhunters agreed were among the worst presented by Wall Street firms so far this payout season. John Gallagher, spokesman for CSFB in New York, declined comment. Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Bear Stearns are among Wall Street firms that have already paid out bonuses, said headhunters.

Deutsche Bank's equity derivatives structured product group is developing its first products that will provide investors with real estate exposure, some of which will use total-return swaps. These instruments, which will be used as wrappers, will allow investors that are restricted from investing in real estate to receive synthetic exposure to a fund, said Geert Bossuyt, director in structured products in London. He explained that investors have been asking for ways to gain exposure to real estate for extra yield as equity markets fall and interest rates remain low.

A trio of equity derivatives structurers at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in New York is joining TD Securities. The defection of the team, headed by Rolando Hermoso, appears to sound the death knell for Dresdner's efforts to establish a presence in the U.S. structured equity derivatives market, according to rivals. Hermoso and Karen Laureano-Rikardsen, a spokeswoman at Dresdner in New York, declined comment.

Mario Tuernich, head of index trading in equity derivatives at JPMorgan in London, has left the firm. He has been replaced internally by Gareth Murphy, co-head of single stock trading in equity derivatives, said Clemens Lansing, head of flow derivatives trading, which includes single stock and index trading, in London. He declined further comment. Tuernich could not be reached.

The European Investment Bank has entered an interest rate swap to convert a recent USD3 billion fixed-rate bond offering into a synthetic floating-rate liability. Carlos Guille, head of funding for American, Asia and Pacific capital markets in Luxembourg, said the agency typically converts fixed-rate debt to floating, but keeps some fixed-rate liabilities, depending on lending requirements.

One month euro/U.S. dollar implied volatility jumped more than 1% last week, reaching a high of 10.6% early in the week before settling at 10.3% last Thursday, said a New York-based trader. Euro/dollar vol had traded as low as 9.7% the previous Thursday before grinding higher on the back of the euro eking out and then giving back a USD0.02 gain in the spot market, to reach USD1.07 last Thursday.

A quartet of equity derivatives staff have left Morgan Stanley in New York over the last few weeks: a move that some in the market have attributed to disappointment with bonuses. "Morale in [Morgan Stanley's] equity derivatives [group] is very low," said one headhunter. A Morgan Stanley insider countered that bonus payouts at the firm were in line with other houses on Wall Street and that the number of departures are insignificant. Melissa Stonberg, spokeswoman at Morgan Stanley in New York, declined comment.