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Full-Text Articles in Law

Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Search For An Optimum Voting Threshold, Joy Dey Aug 2008

Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Search For An Optimum Voting Threshold, Joy Dey

Joy Dey

Sovereigns have been defaulting on their debts over decades now. A sovereign debt default necessitates a restructuring of the debt instrument in order to reduce the size of the debt or lengthen the maturity period. One of the methods of debt restructuring is an ‘exchange offer’ where the old debt instrument, for example the bond, is exchanged for new debt instruments with altered terms and conditions, particularly the payment terms. Whereas some investors may agree to such restructuring and accept the exchange offer, others might have different aspirations for their investments. A successful sovereign debt restructuring takes place when the …


The Argentine Financial Crisis: State Liability Under Bits And The Legitimacy Of The Icsid System, William W. Burke-White Jan 2008

The Argentine Financial Crisis: State Liability Under Bits And The Legitimacy Of The Icsid System, William W. Burke-White

All Faculty Scholarship

This essay examines the jurisprudence of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral tribunals in a series of cases brought against the Republic of Argentina in the wake of the 2001-2002 Argentine financial collapse. The essay considers the ICSID tribunals' treatment of non-precluded measures provisions in Argentina's bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and the customary law defense of necessity and argues that the ICSID tribunals have sought to radically narrow the opportunities available to states to craft policy responses to emergency situations while strengthening investor protections beyond the intent of the states parties to the BITs under …


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

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

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 …


Who Is The "Sovereign" In Sovereign Debt?: Reinterpreting A Rule-Of-Law Framework From The Early Twentieth Century, Odette Lienau Jan 2008

Who Is The "Sovereign" In Sovereign Debt?: Reinterpreting A Rule-Of-Law Framework From The Early Twentieth Century, Odette Lienau

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Combining legal interpretation with political science analysis, this Article highlights the competing "statist" and "popular" conceptions of sovereignty at stake in sovereign debt issues. It argues that these two dominant approaches do not exhaust the offerings of intellectual history and considers an alternative approach that emerged in the early twentieth century and may be of relevance again today. The Article contends that U.S. Chief Justice Taft's foundational 1923 "Tinoco" decision, which grounds the current approach to sovereign governmental recognition, has been misinterpreted to support a purely statist or absolutist conception of sovereignty. It argues that a proper interpretation presents an …


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 …