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Richard Herman has moved across from his role as European head of debt sales to become Deutsche Bank’s global head of sales following Jim Turley’s decision to take a sabbatical and focus on rugby coaching. The bank has also announced that Mark Carrodus has stepped down from his position as global head of FX spot and options at Deutsche Bank for personal reasons. Carrodus, who is returning with his family to New Zealand, will be replaced by Rob Mandeno, who coincidentally is at present based in New Zealand. Mandeno will move to London to take up his new role.

China’s ICBC, the world’s biggest bank by market capitalization, has been granted a licence to operate in the Qatar Financial Centre. This is ICBC’s first outlet in the Gulf, although in September 2007 the bank’s president indicated that a branch was planned for Dubai. Activities at the Qatar branch will include wholesale and investment banking, as well as asset management, consulting and trust services.

Infrastructure financing has become synonymous with Brazilian president Lula’s second-term government. As the country enters the first stage of its largest ever hydroelectric project there is a growing demand for funds that the local market is struggling to source. Chloe Hayward reports from São Paulo.

Icap has announced that it has upgraded its EBS spot FX platform, making it faster and adding enhancements. The company says that as a result, global deal times on the platform are now 75% faster than they were a year ago. Intra-regional deals are-now completed on average in five to eight milliseconds.

Marcus Browning has resigned from Citi, where he recently took up a new role to build a proprietary team to trade volatility. He is believed to be headed for a position on the buy side. "We are disappointed to see Marcus leave, he has been a profitable trader for us and he has been instrumental in building FX options into the strong business that it is today at Citi. But we understand that he has long harboured a desire to work on the buy side, and we wish him success in the future," says James Bindler, global FX options head at Citi.

Two SIVs endured very different fates in February. On February 21, Dresdner Bank announced plans to shore up its K2 vehicle, providing liquidity support to the $19 billion vehicle as it restructures. But parent company Allianz has confirmed its plans to wind the vehicle down by the year-end. K2 runs three portfolios, one of which has entered a restricted operating period. Standard Chartered, however, has walked away from its SIV, Whistlejacket, which entered receivership on February 11 and was teetering on the brink of default by February 21.

Nobuo Kuroyanagi, president and CEO, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group president, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Yasumasa Gomi, chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

From a subsidiary of an English public school to a UAE migrant labour camp: diversification can hardly be said to be lacking at Evolvence Capital. The Dubai-based alternative investment group is reportedly planning to market bonds backed by commercial mortgages worth up to $700 million in order to kick-start a $1 billion Reit. Aside from a migrant labour camp, the Reit, the company’s first, will also contain a warehouse and offices. Evolvence is apparently aiming for the CMBS to be sold in the fourth quarter.

Independent M&A boutiques are sensing an opportunity in Japan as the country’s top corporate names increasingly look to firms not tied to large commercial banks when awarding cross-border mandates.

Distressed seems the right route to take.

Many of the delegates at an industry conference in Nevada seemed blind to the real world beyond the securitization desk.

Argentina’s asset-backed securities market shows no sign of slowing down but the sub-prime crisis has killed off the country’s nascent mortgage-backed securities market.