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This year more Americans will file for bankruptcy than graduate from college or file for divorce.

Nigeria has announced plans to clear the last of its commercial debt, taking it one step closer to entering the debt capital markets in 2007. Last year Nigeria was poised to issue its first Eurobond deal, for $1.5 billion, which was thought necessary to pay off its London Club debt. But then the government pulled the deal, realizing that the debt could be cleared from its rapidly growing international reserves. Now president Olusegun Obasanjo hopes to enter the capital markets in 2007, once his country’s remaining $912 million of London Club debt is extinguished and political uncertainties have diminished.

Oil keeps recovery in Arab banking on track

The Big Mac index is old hat. Who, in these health-conscious times, buys a Big Mac any more? Instead, please welcome a more pertinent yardstick for our time: the iPod index.

It’s good to see that the top men in the multilaterals are devoting time to looking after the interests of the man in the street and not just governments. Or so the Nigerian 419-style scamsters would like to have us believe.

Demand for mortgages and consumer loans from low-income borrowers will provide a big opportunity for private sector lenders, according to a new report by Merrill Lynch called The Merrill Lynch guide to emerging mortgage and consumer credit markets. The bank says currently government agencies provide a large chunk of this kind of finance. But in the long run demand will only be satisfied by building capital market instruments, such as residential mortgage-backed securities and mortgage covered bonds. The bank reckons Colombia has the strongest RMBS market in Latin America.

Three more former employees of struggling hedge fund Pirate Capital have joined FrontFour Capital, an event-drive fund set up by ex-Pirate Andrew Stotland. The fund launched in January and is reportedly seeded by Weston-Atlas Partners, a joint venture between London-based alternative asset management firm Atlas Capital Group and Weston Capital.

Growing investor appetite for infrastructure and an ingenious deal structure meant that concerns about the size of a bid for BAA were overcome.

Citing evidence from what he admits is a limited study, TABB Group partner Robert Iati feels that the decision of many of the leading FX banks to invest heavily in their own trading portals has left the multi-bank aggregating platforms looking vulnerable.

Banks’ predictions for 2007 are remarkably similar to those of a year ago.

Debt poll of polls: Customer votes reveal the new big three I Debt poll of polls: The official bond league table 2006 I Debt poll of polls: Primary markets I Debt poll of polls: Secondary markets I Debt poll of polls: Investment grade debt house I Debt poll of polls: Advisory services I Debt poll of polls: Methodology

Mexico’s exchange calls into question the point of recent liability management trades.