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Agricultural co-operative Agway has received approval from the bankruptcy court for a $125 million debtor-in-possession facility after filing for Chapter 11 on Oct. 1. The DIP facility is part of Agway's plan to keep the company's operations running effectively, confirmed Karen Ohliger, treasurer. She noted that pre-petition lender GE Commercial Finance leads the DIP line with three other lending banks, Rabobank, CoBank and GMAC Commercial Credit.

Ambac Assurance Corp. has added David Salz as a v.p. in its collateralized debt obligation structuring group, says Michael Schoezer, managing director and head of structured finance and credit derivatives. He joins from ABN AMRO, where he was a transactor in the structured capital markets division, reporting to Tom Aylward. He started three weeks ago. At Ambac, Salz will be a transactor for CDOs and related transactions, with a special focus on cash-flow structures, says Schoezer. He will report to Scott Gordon, managing director. Patrick Phalon, a spokesperson at ABN AMRO, says Salz's position will be filled eventually.

Recent trades totaling some $300 million in vendor financing debt of Leap Wireless Cricket provide the first substantial valuation of wireless spectrum assets in close to two years, says Frank Colombo, head of research at Seaport Group, a New York distressed boutique. The debt sold at approximately 17, valuing Leap's share of the spectrum at $333.4 million--about 20% of the price fetched by similar assets at an auction by the Federal Communications Commission last January, says Colombo. Leap Wireless owns spectrum rights in several mid-sized cities.

The proposed Basel capital adequacy accord will likely close a loophole that allows structurers and investors to arbitrage rating agencies in order to get a desired rating for collateralized debt obligations. Rating agencies assign different ratings for the same obligations because their methodologies and projected default curves are different. Investors and structurers are aware of this and frequently ask Moody's Investors Service to rate the lower tranches of a deal and Standard & Poor's or Fitch Ratings to rate the higher tranches.

The Bank of New York will launch general syndication of a $165 million credit facility for Patriot Media and Communications on Thursday. The credit backs the $245 million acquisition of RCN's New Jersey cable systems business by Steve Simmons and Spectrum Equity Investors. General Electric Capital Corp., National City Bank and SG Bank have already committed $40 million as agents, according to a banker. A couple of investors said the deal could present a challenge. "A leveraged cable buyout is tough. There are other cable names trading at a significant discount in the secondary market," said one buysider.

Banc of America Securities has reorganized its primary dealer operations. Kurt Harrison is now head of the global government and agency sales effort, as well as being co-head of the primary dealer with Brian Edmonds who is handling the U.S. Treasury trading effort. Previously, Harrison, who was recruited from Lehman Brothers to run trading, had run all of government/agency trading and sales. He says the move was made because the time involved in building the primary dealer's sales effort required him to be off the trading desk too often to effectively monitor firm positions and daily client contacts. Frank Keane runs U.S. agency trading. Harrison says he will seek to hire an additional five or six Treasury and agency sales specialists over the coming year to augment the eight that already report to him.

China's domestic institutions have five years to prepare for the opening of the country's financial markets to foreign competition. It's a daunting task, and a large part of it will be shouldered by Wu Xiaoling – the assistant governor at China's central bank and a leading advocate of financial reform. She spoke to Asiamoney's Pauline Loong.

HSBC

For the first time since 1998, no US house appears in the top three in Asiamoney's annual brokers poll. CLSA climbs the rankings thanks to its perceived independence, but it is last year's winner, UBS Warburg, that makes the greatest gains in our most comprehensive ever poll. By Olivia Chow and Robert Law.

Few may regard the hulking, fusty Nomura as a vehicle for change in Japan. But Richard Gitlin, chairman and CEO of Gitlin & Company, thinks just that. What's more, he's good at convincing others of the same. A sure sign of a lawyer. Nomura Group employed Richard Gitlin in October as senior strategic advisor, to assist the securities firm in implementing restructuring strategies for its clients. According to Gitlin, Nomura is the natural financial institution to play a significant role in Japan's turnaround – in its capacity as advisor and investor.

At the end of September, Sitthiporn Ratanopas, one of Thailand's most respected energy technocrats, was appointed governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat). But he faces a formidable array of challenges ranging from privatization of the huge state utility to liberalization of the power sector. Has he got what it takes to transform Egat into a freewheeling private enterprise? In his first press interview following his appointment, he spoke to Ben Davies.

StanChart fails to attract public support