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Citigroup Asset Management released the former Smith Barney Asset Management taxable fixed-income management team last week, a 12-person operation that oversaw some $7.5 billion in assets and included 14 mutual funds. Mary Athridge, a firm spokeswoman, says the move will cut costs and makes sense given the current downturn, though the Smith Barney group was in no way bleeding assets. No further moves are planned at this time, she says.

Levels for Qwest Communications International's bank debt fell to a wide 75-80 after the company admitted that the U.S. Attorney's office in Denver was conducting a criminal investigation into the company. The name had been offered at 83 before the announcement, one dealer noted. No trades were reported, and market players suggested that investors are waiting to see what happens next.

Delco Remy International has selected Wachovia Bank and its subsidiary Congress Financial to lead a $250 million credit facility after incumbent BANK ONE pulled back from lending to the sector. "BANK ONE has not been very aggressive at lending and has been pulling back on the auto sector," said Raj Shah, cfo. BANK ONE has been pulling away from certain sectors and businesses that do not provide ancillary business, enabling the firm to meet profitability hurdles. A BANK ONE spokesman declined to comment.

Xerox's bank debt moved briskly in the secondary markets last week, with levels on all tranches dipping about one point earlier in the week before recovering by mid-week. Traders quoted the company's "B" tranche in the 92-94 range, the "C" loan at the 97 1/2 98 1/2 level and the revolver in the 76-78 context.

Deutsche Bank has hired Nicholas "Trip" Mestanas as head of Pass-Through trading. Mestanas resigned from Goldman Sachs last week where he was also head of Pass-Through trading. A person close to the situation says he was likely start at Deutsche Bank late last week. Mestanas could not be reached. John Sobol, head of mortgage-backed securities trading at Goldman, and Fred Brettschneider, head of MBS at Deutsche Bank, did not return calls.

Deutsche Bank and Bank of America will launch a $340 million exit financing for Pinnacle Towers on Wednesday in the wake of the company's rapid emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The loan is divided into a $300 million amortizing "B" loan priced at LIBOR plus 4% and a $40 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 31/ 2%. Officials at the company and the banks either did not return calls or declined to comment.

Deutsche Securities in Tokyo, part of the Deutsche Bank group, has hired Yukio Egawa as head of Japanese securitization research, a newly created position. The position was created to complement the securitization business Deutsche Securities is building in Japan, a firm spokeswoman says. Egawa joins from Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo where he covered securitization as well as financial institutions and government-sponsored agencies. He reports to Karen Weaver, managing director and global head of securitization research.

A pair of sell-side gaming analysts are urging high-yield investors to add to their holdings in the sector. They predict a rally when second quarter earnings announcements kick off this week with Boyd Gaming. Jacques Cornet, analyst at CIBC World Markets, says gaming credits have traded off of late because money managers are liquidating assets to pay back investors fleeing high-yield and its telecom-related woes. He expects many gaming companies to easily beat analysts' estimates, and recently upgraded the sector from "market weight" to "outperform."

Andy Hay resigned last Monday from Morgan Stanley, where he was a senior high-grade corporate bond salesman, according to a person at the firm. The reason for his resignation could not be determined, and Hay could not be reached. Dennis Burns, Morgan Stanley's head of corporate bond sales, did not return calls.

A high-yield portfolio manager believes the bonds of Charter Communications are ready to begin climbing back, but a trader at another buy-side firm is not convinced. Brendan White, portfolio manager at Fort Washington Investment Advisors in Cincinnati, purchased some of the bonds last week. He says Fort Washington was never fully invested in the bellwether high-yield cable company, which was one of the priciest names in high-yield just a few months ago. "We had a small amount of exposure and were adding to it when the bonds ran away, so we never had a chance to build a real position," he says. He confesses that, "luck is the operative word," as to why he did not take a beating with the rest of the market on the name. White says Fort Washington worked out the value of Charter's assets and decided that the bonds were a bargain at last week's levels. "They've got the size. They're the most built out, and have the most updated technology [in the cable sector]," he says. Charter's 10.75% notes of '09 were bid at 69 last Thursday.

BNP Paribas has altered the reporting line for its London-based European securitization research group so that it now reports to a banker--Ra Sharma, global head of structured credit syndicate, instead of to the head of credit strategy. Two people at Paribas and securitization analysts at competing firms confirmed the change in reporting lines.

Prudential Capital's first collateralized debt obligation composed primarily of leveraged loans is now 85% ramped up and ready to close. According to Siew Chuah, senior analyst at Moody's Investors Service, liabilities have been priced on the bonds, which are underwritten by Salomon Smith Barney and TD Securities. Ross Smead, portfolio manager for Prudential's leveraged bank loan division, declined to comment.