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Sovereign Debt Restructuring: the Judge, the Vultures and Creditor Rights

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  • Miller, Marcus
  • Thomas, Dania

Abstract

What role did the US courts play in the Argentine debt swap of 2005? What are the implications for the future of creditor rights in sovereign bond markets? The judge in the Argentine case has, it appears, deftly exploited creditor heterogeneity ? between holdouts seeking capital gains and institutional investors wanting a settlement ? to promote a swap with a supermajority of 76% of creditors. Our analysis of Argentine debt litigation reveals a process of 'judge-mediated' sovereign debt restructuring, which resolves the key issues of Transition and Aggregation - two of the roles envisaged for the IMF's still-born Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM). For the future we note how the judge-mediated sovereign debt restructuring, together with creditor committees, may complement the market-based alternative promoted by the Treasury, namely collective action clauses (CACs) in sovereign bond contracts.

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  • Miller, Marcus & Thomas, Dania, 2006. "Sovereign Debt Restructuring: the Judge, the Vultures and Creditor Rights," CEPR Discussion Papers 5710, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5710
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    Cited by:

    1. Schumacher, Julian & Trebesch, Christoph & Enderlein, Henrik, 2021. "Sovereign defaults in court," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Cadigan, John & Schmitt, Pamela & Shupp, Robert & Swope, Kurtis, 2011. "The holdout problem and urban sprawl: Experimental evidence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 72-81, January.
    3. Häseler, Sönke, 2012. "Individual versus Collective Enforcement Rights in Sovereign Bonds," MPRA Paper 40908, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Martin Guzman, 0. "An Analysis of Argentina’s 2001 Default Resolution," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 0, pages 1-38.
    5. Sönke Häseler, 2009. "Collective Action Clauses In International Sovereign Bond Contracts – Whence The Opposition?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(5), pages 882-923, December.
    6. Kartik Anand & Prasanna Gai, 2019. "Pre-emptive sovereign debt restructuring and holdout litigation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 71(2), pages 364-381.
    7. Grossman, Zachary & Pincus, Jonathan & Shapiro, Perry & Yengin, Duygu, 2019. "Second-best mechanisms for land assembly and hold-out problems," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 1-16.
    8. John Cadigan & Pamela Schmitt & Robert Shupp & Kurtis Swope, 2009. "An Experimental Study of the Holdout Problem in a Multilateral Bargaining Game," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 76(2), pages 444-457, October.
    9. Marcus Miller & Dania Thomas, 2013. "Eurozone sovereign debt restructuring: keeping the vultures at bay," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 29(4), pages 745-763, WINTER.
    10. Eggert Wolfgang & Stephan Maximilian & von Ungern-Sternberg Handirk, 2016. "Eine Analyse polit-ökonomischer Probleme bei Staatsumschuldungen," Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 65(2), pages 157-176, August.
    11. Trebesch, Christoph, 2008. "Delays in Sovereign Debt Restructurings. Should we really blame the creditors?," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Zurich 2008 44, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    12. Ghosal, Sayantan & Miller, Marcus & Thampanishvong, Kannika, 2010. "Delay and Haircuts in Sovereign Debt: Recovery and Sustainability," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-17, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    13. Julian Schumacher & Christoph Trebesch & Henrik Enderlein, 2015. "What Explains Sovereign Debt Litigation?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(3).
    14. Häseler, Sönke, 2008. "Individual Enforcement Rights in International Sovereign Bonds," MPRA Paper 11518, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Wolfgang Eggert & Maximilian Stephan & Janine Temme & Handirk von Ungern-Sternberg, 2015. "Diversification, Risk Aversion and Expectation in a Holdout Scenario," CESifo Working Paper Series 5527, CESifo.
    16. Martin Guzman, 2020. "An Analysis of Argentina’s 2001 Default Resolution," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 62(4), pages 701-738, December.
    17. Engelen, Christian & Graf Lambsdorff, Johann, 2007. "Fairness in sovereign debt restructuring," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-50-07, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sovereign debt restructuring; Holdout creditors; Collective action clauses;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process
    • K49 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Other

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