Out Takes

Middle-market investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners is now the sole firm at the helm of its IPO after Goldman Sachs, the other lead underwriter, pulled out of the deal. TWP has fallen on hard times of late, losing $13.1 million during the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2005, despite a blockbuster year in investment banking. At the height of the equity boom of 2000, TWP posted net income on $118 million on revenue of $486 million. A number of full-service boutiques have run into difficulties recently, just as TWP and SG Cowen unveiled plans to go public. TWP plans to raise $65 million in its IPO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods is a co-manager on the IPO.

Robert Crowley took over as global head of high-yield capital markets at UBS earlier this month, the latest move in an ongoing reshuffling of the bank's leveraged finance group. He replaces Edward Massaro, the previous head of high-yield and loan capital markets, who at the end of January is moving to Dillon Read Capital Management, the hedge fund the Swiss bank has started.

Crowley was previously an investment banker covering homebuilders, a sector where UBS has been a leader in high-yield bond underwriting mandates. Prior to moving to the banking side in 2000, he was an analyst covering the homebuilding and building products industries. In his new role, Crowley reports jointly to Suneel Kamlani, global head of debt capital markets, and David Juge, co-head of global leveraged finance and also global head of syndicated finance. Warren Woo is the bank's other co-head of leveraged finance.

Along with leveraged finance, the M&A group at UBS has also undergone a makeover since Hew Jenkins replaced John Costas as CEO of the investment bank in June. Costas left the investment bank to run Dillon Read Capital Management.

Wachovia Securities reached a settlement with its former head of CDO research, Arturo Cifuentes, who filed a...