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The European Investment Bank, Freddie Mac and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau have such large borrowing requirements that they need to maintain access to diverse sources of funding. As a result, they are three of a rare breed of top quality issuer that has a regular presence in the euro market. Sebastian Boyd reports on how the trio of triple-A issuers are making the best of their commitment to the euro.

Governments might be expected to find financing in their home market easy, but with a dozen governments competing for the attention of euro investors, Euroland's sovereigns are being forced to work hard. And while the argument for syndicated transactions is winning over more issuers, the debate over the best way to use the system is far from over. Neil Day reports on how Euroland's sovereigns are fighting to stay ahead of the pack.

Who'd be an agency or supranational treasurer? Swap spreads in both euros and dollars are so tight that, for many top quality issuers, borrowing in the public markets is often uneconomic. For others, arbitrage opportunities are few and far between. Here, Sebastian Boyd examines the macro-economic factors driving swap spreads and considers the options for smaller agency and supranational issuers.

Bank One, with assets of over USD260 million, has closed its strategic risk management advisory department in London, according to Fred Stambaugh, senior v.p. and head of currency risk management. The department had five staff, including three quants. Jessica James, director and head of the department, and Chris Attfield, director, both opted for redundancy and Rob Tanner, a quant, has moved to Chicago to join the risk management advisory group, according to officials. Matt Matthews, head of the risk management advisory group in Chicago, declined comment.

A former senior manager at Merrill Lynch and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein plans to launch a hedge fund. George Handjinicolaou was a managing director and global head of emerging market debt at Merrill and head of global markets for North America at DrKW in New York.

Jeevan William, principal and Asia head of global derivatives products at Bank of America in Hong Kong, recently started a three-month leave of absence. Juan Pablo Bertotto, v.p. in global derivatives products in Hong Kong, said he has assumed responsibilities for the Hong Kong desk while marketers elsewhere in the region will now report directly to London.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has hired two Gen Re Securities pros to set up a collateralized debt obligation presence in the U.S. Kevin Stocklin and Robert Wolf, structurers at Gen Re, have joined as a director and vice president respectively, according to Jeremy Vice, co-head of CDOs in London.

Ford Credit Canada has converted its recent DKK400 million (USD48.5 million) bond offering into Canadian dollars. Terry Huch, manager for fixed-income investor relations in Dearborn, Mich., would not comment specifically on why the company entered into the swap, but said all of its decisions are driven by the cost of funding and ongoing access to investors in diverse markets. Ford Credit Canada often issues in foreign currencies and converts back into Canadian dollars, Huch added. He would not comment on the exchange rate or maturity of the swap. The underlying bonds have a maturity of five years.

Evolution Markets, an emissions brokerage firm in New York, plans to make a move into the weather derivatives brokering business in New York and open a London office.

Apache Corporation, an oil and gas exploration and production company with an USD8 billion market cap, is considering entering its first interest-rate swap.Matt Dundrea, treasurer in Houston, said the company would enter the swap to increase the portion of floating-rate debt in its portfolio to take advantage of a steep yield curve.

Goldman Sachs is preparing to market a synthetic collateralized debt obligation out of its New York headquarters referenced to a USD1 billion pool of credit-default swaps on U.S. investment-grade names, according to a market official. The deal, dubbed Gremlin, is expected to hit the market in the next two weeks. The official said it is one of the first rated synthetic products to come out of the firm's New York division as the majority of the firm's synthetic deals have been structured and rated in London, the official added. The switch to New York has been prompted by the firm's interest in attracting its U.S.-based clients, while avoiding the inconvenience of marketing a new deal for U.S. investors in a different time zone. The official said it is likely that this will be the first in a series of Gremlin deals structured over the course of the year. Alex Reyfman, v.p. of CDO strategy for Goldman Sachs in New York, declined comment.