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Systeia, an alternative investment hedge fund management company in Paris, has hired Dr. Julien Lederer, a mathematician from the University of Paris, to develop trading models, according to Jean-Louis Juchault, ceo. Juchault formed Systeia earlier this year with David Obert. Both had previously worked together at Banque de Reescompte et de Placement Gestion (Barep), an alternative investment manager with EUR5 billion (USD4.4 billion) under management. Systeia hopes to have some 10-15 traders on board by year-end. Lederer could not be reached.

Sal Oppenheim Jr. & Cie has over the last several weeks been pitching exotic reverse convertible structures to its client base of brokers as their customers look to get to grips with volatile equity markets showing no clear direction. Aside from classic reverse convertible, the German firm has also been structuring reverse converts with up-and-in calls and down-and-out puts, according to Christina Mägerlein, senior v.p. in the retail products group in Frankfurt.

Jonathan Ende, managing partner at New York-based venture capital firm NetCentric Partners, has joined Lehman Brothers as head of structured finance marketing to hedge funds in New York. A spokeswoman in New York said that Ende "will work to help develop and market our strong array of financing and structured credit capabilities to the hedge fund community." She declined to elaborate on the types of structured products that Ende is to market, or the timing of the move. Ende was unavailable for comment.

Long Island Power Authority is looking to enter an interest-rate swap to convert a $100 million fixed-rate bond it issued last week into a synthetic floater in order to better balance its debt portfolio and cuts its cost of funds. Lehman Brothers, which underwrote the bond deal, also will act as swap counterparty.

Credit Lyonnais is beefing up its interest-rate derivatives desk in Taiwan and as part of the effort has just brought aboard Max Shyu, head of interest-rate derivative trading at HSBC in Taipei, according to Frederic Laine, head of Asia derivative products at CL in Hong Kong. Shyu joins as head of interest-rate derivatives trading-Taipei, replacing Vincent Lien, who moved to Standard Chartered in Taipei earlier this year. Shyu, who could not be reached, reports to Rosy Tsorng, treasurer in Taipei, and to Laine in Hong Kong.

Taipei-basedBank SinoPac is hoping to become the first domestic firm to offer equity index options, and down the line, equity swaps. The bank is applying to Taiwan's central bank, the Central Bank of China in Taipei, for approval, according to Henry Chang, head derivatives dealer. SinoPac plans to target its private banking customers who are looking for exposure to other markets via stock indices including the Nikkei 225 and NASDAQ Stock Market.

Madrid-based Beta Capital MeesPierson, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Bank, is considering applying for a bank licence, a move that would allow the firm to expand the range of derivatives-based products it offers. If the investment house becomes the Spanish branch of Fortis Bank it would be able to offer banking products, such as guaranteed funds, in its own name, according to an official in Madrid. At present Beta Capital structures products, such as reverse convertibles, but has to issue these under a third party's name, since under Spanish law investment houses are not permitted to offer banking products.

SG, the investment banking division of Societe Generale, has promoted a team of European fixed income cash and derivatives sales professionals marketing to banks and institutional investors. The move follows the recent departure of Mark Goldman, managing director and head of fixed income cash and derivative sales for Europe ex-France, who has joined BNP Paribas in London as European head of bond sales. Goldman could not be reached.

Spreads on five-year credit default protection on Computer Associates International continued to widen last week due to the fallout over the company's May 4 announcement that a typographical error had caused it to overstate its annual earnings on operations. Greg Rosen, director, credit derivatives trader at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, said on Wednesday that spread levels on five-year protection had been trading about 30 basis points wider over the course of the week, and that spreads were hovering at about 190/210 bp. Another credit derivatives trader in New York said that the spreads had been trading wider because investors continue to be concerned about Computer Associate's "aggressive" accounting.

Seeing evidence of a decline in the market for 10-year U.S. Treasury notes ten days ago, R. Medder & Associates, a money manager in Dublin, Ohio, moved $60 million 10-years into T-bills, according to portfolio manager Joe Zarr. Zarr, who runs $420 million in taxable fixed-income, says the investment in T-bills is a temporary measure to guard against principal devaluation while yields on the 10-year are up. He will watch for a variety of indicators, but particularly a turnaround in 90-, 150-, and 200-day moving averages for the 10-year, before buying back the $60 million (and perhaps eventually another $60 million).

This chart, provided by Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney Inc., tracks bid-ask prices for par credit facilities that trade in the secondary market. It also tracks facility amounts, ratings, pricing and maturities.