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Bear Stearns has appointed another four salespeople to its fixed income team for Europe and the Middle East, keeping up the fast pace of expansion of its London-based team. Herbert Scheadler joins as a managing director to lead sales in Germany across the fixed income product range. He was previously head of credit sales for German banks at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

Senior staff at Cygnifi, a Web-based independent derivatives services company created and spun off by J.P. Morgan last year, are considering jumping ship following the company's decision to narrow its focus a few months ago by eliminating counterparty risk management and several other services, according to market officials. The move to change the focus was due to a slowdown in business, according to one official.

Bank of America Securities this week announced the details of the first true securitisation to come out of Israel. The $150m deal, which will be run through a Bank of America (BofA) conduit, will ultimately be backed by trade receivables originated by Israeli agrochemical concern Makhteshim Agan Industries (MAI), one of the largest corporates in the country.

Credit Suisse First Boston is believed to be preparing to launch a joint securitisation for half a dozen top European football clubs. The bond will be secured on any money they make from selling their players. * Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley along with NIB Capital have won the mandate to launch what will be the 10th and largest issue from NIB Capital's Dutch MBS securitisation programme.

LCF Rothschild Asset Management in London last Friday launched a Eu277.95m managed arbitrage collateralised debt obligation (CDO) backed by high yield bonds and some investment grade securities. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), the deal is the operation's first transaction of this type, although it is believed that its intention is to become a regular issuer in this market.

Laidlaw is in talks with several U.S. and Canadian banks about arranging a $250 million revolving credit facility and a $500 million high-yield bond issue for when it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Geoff Mann, v.p. treasurer for the Burlington, Ontario-based transportation company, said Laidlaw has just obtained a $200 million two-year secured revolving debtor-in-possession facility that will provide liquidity while the company is in court proceedings. The plan has not yet been voted on to put in place the exit facility, but it is expected to be a syndicated $250 million revolver, he added, declining to name the potential banks to lead the facility or bond offering. Laidlaw intends to exit from bankruptcy proceedings within six months to a year, he noted.

Citizens Communications is preparing to refinance $2 billion in loans between now and October when existing lines mature. Don Armour, v.p., finance and treasurer for Citizens, said the refinanced revolver would most likely be a multi-year backstop with the same institutions that led a $5.7 billion line arranged last year. Chase Manhattan Bank was the lead arranger on that credit, which has been downsized after a $1.7 billion note sale earlier this year and will be cut even more by a planned $1.75 million private offering of 144A senior notes. The company is coming in wit a $2 billion deal because it does not need a revolver as large as the existing facility.

Continuing the trend of loans being offered at an original discount in syndication, Credit Suisse First Boston's deal for The Ackerley Group has been sold at a cut-price 97 to investors, according to a banker following the deal. After the market was offered the credit at a discount, the $120 million loan was oversubscribed. The discount will cut into the net proceeds of deal rather than being covered by the bank through fees. Both the $20 million revolver and the $100 million five-year term loan "B" were discounted in syndication. Pricing was LIBOR plus 3 3/4% and 4% over LIBOR, respectively, for the tranches. The revolver also carried a jumbo 1 1/2% commitment fee to facilitate syndication.

The dog days of August, indeed. One dealer said, "It's definitely August," as few names and significant trades have been talked about in the first part of this week. Notable is a $25 million piece of Federal Mogul's bank debt that was rumored to be sold by Bank of America to HSBC at 67-68 as the debt level ticks up upon uncertainty regarding a possible Chapter 11 filing. Today, traders were keeping their eye on a $20-30 million piece of Owens-Illinois that was rumored to exchange hands as all asbestos credits are reportedly receiving a little relief as litigation concerns have subsided.

Traders said Finova Group's bank debt this week hit its highest level year-to-date, trading between 94 and 94 1/4 and remaining steady after news was released regarding approval of the company's new reorganization plan. The paper had been trading in the low 90s. "[Finova] traded up a lot on the positive news of the settlement. It takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the credit," said one trader. "We were all waiting to see what happened last Friday," said another. It could not be determined how much of the paper has traded this week.

Deutsche Bank's innovative financing structure for Premcor Refining Group seemed to strike the right note with investors as the deal filled this week and looked to be upsized. A banker familiar with the credit said that total commitments should be $650 million and the revolver will almost certainly be upsized from $350 million. The $150 million term loan will possibly also be increased, depending on the math, said the banker. He was unable to say by how much at this stage or name the institutions committing, as allocations have not yet been set.