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* Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Mediobanca opened the books yesterday (Thursday) for Quarzo, a Eu500m securitisation of consumer loans for Compass, the consumer finance arm of Mediobanca. The banks expect to price the deal next week. Two tranches of floating rate notes are being offered. Official price talk on the Eu479m triple-A tranche with an average life of 4.42 years and expected maturity of January 2008 at the call date is 32bp-34bp over three month Euribor.

Prudential M&G this week launched a £69m private bond to finance the development of a new facility for the Health and Safety Executive, a body sponsored by the UK's Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. The deal is the third private finance initiative (PFI) bond to be launched this year, despite fears that the problems at Railtrack would damage relations between the UK government and the City.

French filmmakers are turning to the capital markets for funding and SG is working on the possibilities of funding the production of specific films. TF1 has raised Eu8.5m through a bond that offers investors exposure to the number of seats sold for its latest film. SG closed the deal on March 25, the day before the opening of A la folie pas du tout, a film starring Audrey Tautou, who rose to fame with the movie Amélie in April last year.

The structured finance market received a double hit of catastrophe risk over Easter as Hannover Re and Swiss Re returned to the capital markets. German reinsurer Hannover Re closed its third securitisation of catastrophe risk last week with a $230m deal linked to a portfolio of non-proportional reinsurance covers for a combination of natural perils and worldwide aviation business. These specific reinsurance businesses have been transferred to a Bermudan subsidiary and investors hold $230m of equity in this company.

Capital One Bank made its first public entry into the European ABS market last Friday, with a £357m securitisation of UK credit cards via Castle Receivables Trust. Led by sole bookrunner Barclays Capital, Capital One offered its first deal, Sherwood Castle Funding Series 2002-1 plc, using a recognisable master trust structure and following the example of regular issuer MBNA and its 14 CARDS transactions. "This deal is a welcome addition to a market dominated by MBNA's CARDS programme," said David Wells, director and product manager at Barclays Capital in London. "CARDS buyers jumped on the transaction and we expect Capital One to bring around two deals per annum."

Auto-part credit Federal-Mogul has fluctuated this week with roughly $15 - $20 million trading following news that Carl Icahn and other bondholders have struck a deal with asbestos claimants. Dealers said the name traded as high as 66 following the news on Tuesday, but that by noon Wednesday it had traded in the 62-63 range.

Phil Vasan has been named co-head of Credit Suisse First Boston's global equity derivatives and convertibles group, according to a firm official. Vasan, who most recently headed CSFB's cost reduction program, is co-heading the group with Paul Calello, who along with his current duties, is now serving as chairman and ceo of CSFB's Asian Pacific region, a position he was appointed to last month. Calls to Vasan and Calello were referred to CSFB spokeswoman Victoria Harmon, who declined comment.

Azam Mistry, director and head of risk management advisory for treasury and capital markets at HSBC in Hong Kong, has resigned. Market officials noted that Mistry is a well-known figure in the region for his role as a director for the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Mistry could not be reached for comment.

Credit-default swap spreads on Swedish and Swiss engineering concern ABB reversed course last week, tightening 250 basis points after a 300bps blowout the previous week. The news that Barclays Bank, Citigroup and Credit Suisse First Boston had agreed to fully underwrite its revised USD3 billion loan helped to comfort investors, who have been concerned over Moody's Investors Service recent downgrade of the company and its lack of access to the commercial paper market, traders said. Mid-market five-year protection on ABB was at 750bp early in the week and tightened to 375bp/500bp by Wednesday. Sellers of credit protection included bondholders and proprietary traders, according to credit derivatives professionals.

BMO Nesbitt Burns is considering establishing an equity derivatives presence in Europe and possibly Asia, depending on the success of its newly created U.S. equity derivatives proprietary trading operation in New York. Patrick Cronin, executive managing director and co-head of equity derivatives, told DW the firm is expanding because its Toronto-based client and proprietary equity derivatives group has generated positive returns on a consistent basis and it is ready to look at new markets. "We have solidified our position in our home market," he added.

CDC Ixis Capital Markets has hired Christophe Thomas, a convertible arbitrage trader at Barclays Capital in London, in a similar position in New York. The firm made the hire because it is set to launch a fund within the next two months, according to a firm official. Thomas will join Quincy Evans, a convertible arbitrage trader who joined the firm in February from Goldman Sachs (DW, 4/3).

The Korean government approved a long-awaited amendment to the presidential decree to the Securities and Exchange Act in February, which will permit certain qualified securities companies in Korea to enter the over-the-counter derivatives business, starting from this July. Although KOSPI (an index for Korean companies) index futures and options and certain currency and other futures products have been traded on the Korea Stock Exchange and the Korea Futures Exchange for years, OTC derivatives have been off limits to securities companies in Korea, except in very limited circumstances. This is in sharp contrast to the treatment of commercial banks in Korea that have engaged in various OTC derivatives transactions. Foreign securities and commercial banks with a large capital base and expertise in foreign currency related products also have been active in this business, although they were subject to foreign exchange regulatory approvals or reports. Such favorable treatment of commercial banks and foreign companies over domestic securities companies has been a source of complaint. By opening up this market to securities companies, such criticism will be lessened. In addition, the Korean government hopes that the competitiveness and profitability of securities companies is enhanced and their customers better served in their financing and risk management needs.