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Though the market appears to view initial concerns over the Aug. 14 earnings restatement by Household International as overblown, at least one independent analyst remains troubled by the news. Meanwhile, a sell-side analyst who has been bullish on Household all year continues to see major upside in the bonds.

HSBC has hired one of Abbey National's asset-backed portfolio managers for its London-based structured investment vehicle team. Andrew Jackson will join HSBC shortly and will report to Dominic Swan, head of structured investment vehicles, according to an official at the firm. Swan was on vacation last week and could not be reached for comment.

Greg Drennen, the manager of the $9 billion securitized product account at New York hedge fund The Clinton Group, says that his remarks about Credit Suisse First Boston's mortgage-backed security group in the Sales Professional Of The Year Award (BW, 8/19) were taken out of context. Drennen says that he did not mean to imply that he has ceased transacting business in MBS or asset-backed securities with CSFB because of sales pro Tom Corrnachia's departure, and that "the way the remarks were presented might give the impression that this is the case." Drennen says that his only intent in making the remarks was to convey a deep personal and professional respect for Cornacchia's efforts as a salesman, regardless of the firm he is working at.

Merrill Lynch's director of emerging markets fixed-income research has left the firm. Matthew Vogel, who covered Eastern Europe and Turkey, is said to have joined Barclays Capital in London, according to several people familiar with the move. Vogel's new role at Barclays could not be learned. Vogel was the most-senior emerging markets strategist in London and reported to Tulio Vera, head of emerging markets fixed-income research in New York. Calls to officials at Barclays were not returned. Vera was on holiday and could not be reached for comment.

OppenheimerFunds has added John Johnson, a high-yield analyst, to cover media and financial credits, according to Tom Reedy, co-head of high yield with David Negri at the New York-based money manager. Johnson replaces an analyst who left the firm some two months ago. Reedy says the firm is interviewing to replace another analyst who left some two months ago. The new hire will follow telecom and cable. He declined to name the two analysts who left.

Citibank/Schroder Salomon Smith Barney's only European securitization analyst, Shaker Sundaram, has left the firm. Sundaram has joined UBS Warburg's London-based fixed-income distribution team as a salesman specializing in asset-backeds, according to UBS officials. The position is newly created. Sundaram reports to Emmanuel Bucaille and David Wishnow, co-heads of bank and insurance sales. Calls to officials at SSSB were not returned.

As the broader rally in corporate spreads continues the primary market in corporate debt has returned from the grave in the past week with over $13 billion of deals finding their way into the ready hands of investors and several billion more slated to come before the end of the month. Even with this late surge of issuance, volume for the full month of August will remain light ($25-30 billion) compared to the deluge of supply we were experiencing earlier this year but the latest deals provide a stark contrast to the frozen state of the market in July. Much of the recent buoyancy has been attributed to the passing of the relatively uneventful passing of the August 14 SEC sign-off deadline and although the impact of this is clear, there are other reasons as well for the stronger tone in the market. In particular, the recent vibes from the equity market have been supportive with month-to-date gains in the major indices (Dow +5.3%, S&P500 +7.3%, NASDAQ +10.1%) and a substantial drop in implied volatility levels.

Wells Fargo will expand its recently established European securitization services team in the coming months. Ian Hancock, v.p. and head of the London office, says the firm will seek to add between two and four analysts to its securitization transaction management team depending on how quickly the business grows. Hancock joined Wells Fargo in April from Bank One and opened the London office in May. The team focuses on portfolio administration for mortgage-backed deals and collateralized debt obligations.

Barclays Capital has hired Michael Keeley from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to join its structured capital markets group in London, which aids corporates seeking tax-efficient structuring. Keeley will report to Roger Jenkins, head of structured capital markets. Jenkins referred calls to the press office and Keeley could not be reached. Rowan Staines, spokeswoman at DrKW, and Caroline Rouse, spokeswoman at Barclays, both declined comment.

Terence Tsang, managing director and head of Asia Pacific debt markets at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, has resigned. Bob Sherbin, spokesman, said Antony Hung, head of the investor and issuer client groups in Hong Kong, has replaced Tsang. In recent months Hung was appointed as Asia Pacific head of the issuer client group, as the former head, Richard Stoddard, moved to a new role at Merrill in New York. "Hung's a rising star over there," said a market official, adding, "Now he's running the show." Hung was traveling and could not be reached.

Nea Capital is planning to launch its first hedge fund before year end and is currently looking for a prime broker. The fund, called Nea Capital Diversified Strategies, will be an equity market neutral fund and use options, said Michael Hanes, portfolio manager and trader. The London-based firm is currently negotiating with Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, UBS Warburg, Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns as possible choices for a prime broker and will make a decision next month.

Qantas has secured A$600m in an institutional offer jointly underwritten by lead managers Macquarie Bank, Citigroup/SSB and UBS Warburg. The deal uses the new accelerated rights issue technology pioneered in last year's deals from Adsteam Marine and Macquarie Infrastructure Group.