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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Economics

Georgetown University Law Center

Emerging markets

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Domestic Bonds, Credit Derivatives, And The Next Transformation Of Sovereign Debt, Anna Gelpern Jan 2008

Domestic Bonds, Credit Derivatives, And The Next Transformation Of Sovereign Debt, Anna Gelpern

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Not long ago, financial markets in most poor and middle-income countries were shallow to nonexistent, and closed to foreigners. Governments often had to rely on risky borrowing abroad; the private sector had even fewer options. But between 1995 and 2005, domestic debt in the emerging markets grew from $1 trillion to $4 trillion. In Mexico, domestic debt went from just over 20% of the total government debt stock in 1995 to nearly 80% in 2007. Foreign and local investors are buying. Over the same period, derivative contracts to transfer emerging market credit risk surpassed the market capitalization of the benchmark …


After Argentina, Anna Gelpern Sep 2005

After Argentina, Anna Gelpern

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Argentina recently completed the largest sovereign bond restructuring in history. As soon as the government announced the results of its $100 billion tender in March 2005, editorial pages worldwide heralded a new era for sovereign debt, for the emerging markets and, occasionally, for international finance. Their views on Argentina's lessons were as disparate as they were definite. Some said the exchange would close the markets to middle-income countries. To others, it reaffirmed the markets' resilience. Some claimed it proved the need for statutory sovereign bankruptcy. Others said it clearly discredited the idea. Most spoke too soon. The deal took months …


Building A Better Seating Chart For Sovereign Restructurings, Anna Gelpern Jan 2004

Building A Better Seating Chart For Sovereign Restructurings, Anna Gelpern

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Every sovereign debt restructuring in recent memory has wrestled with the problem of inter-creditor equity. Governments have discriminated among creditors in ways that were hard to predict and often were not revealed until after a debt default. In contrast, debts of firms, individuals and even localities are ranked in order of priority established by contract and statute. This ranking is known at borrowing, generally corresponds to the order of repayment in bankruptcy liquidation, and helps define the creditors' relative bargaining power in reorganization. Without a bankruptcy backstop, most debts of national governments are legally equal. Yet in practice, sovereign immunity …


Beyond Balancing The Interests Of Creditors And Developing States, Anna Gelpern Jan 2003

Beyond Balancing The Interests Of Creditors And Developing States, Anna Gelpern

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The traditional view of sovereign debt as a relationship between a developing country government and and its foreign private creditors is increasingly out of date. Financial institutions and individuals inside the borrowing countries are are becoming more and more important as creditors to their governments. At the same time, as countries remove restrictions on cross-border capital flows, foreign creditors are participating more actively in domestic law, local-currency debt markets. These developments imply fundamental changes in lending decisions and, where the loan goes bad, in the sovereign debt workout process.